Democrats fear losing Black support in Michigan as Republicans court voters they long ignored
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In Michigan’s decisive Senate race, Abdul El-Sayed faces pressure to hold Black voter turnout while Mike Rogers makes a calculated appeal to communities Republicans have often taken for granted.
Abdul El-Sayed, a former public-health official, is trying to preserve the coalition that helped him narrowly defeat Rep. Haley Stevens in the August primary. The Democratic Party sees the Black electorate in Detroit, Flint and surrounding areas as indispensable to keeping the seat of retiring Sen. Gary Peters and to securing the four-seat gain needed for a Senate majority.
Republican nominee Mike Rogers, a former U.S. representative, has made his late-stage campaign an overt effort to win over Black voters, opening a storefront office in Detroit and highlighting proposals on new housing, apprenticeships and food-desert relief. At a Detroit Economic Club forum he said, ">We’ve spent a lot of time here in Detroit, Flint, Pontiac. I think if we’re going to get our state right, we have to have everybody included in its forward progress."
Prominent Democrats, including former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Kamala Harris, are touring the state to lift El-Sayed’s profile and reinforce the stakes of the race. El-Sayed told CNN, ">Mike Rogers is simply a rubber stamp on what Donald Trump wants. They understand exactly who Mike Rogers is."
Local Black leaders expressed mixed feelings. Rev. Charles Williams II warned that even a small drop in turnout could jeopardize the Democratic bid, while an unnamed Black leader cautioned, ">In a close race, even a sliver of doubt about Abdul could lead to defeat."
At a rally in Flint, El-Sayed downplayed concerns about his outreach, pointing to economic hardships that Black communities continue to endure and asserting, ">My name and my faith are not the reason you can’t afford your gas."
Both campaigns are stressing the importance of Black voter participation, but analysts say the final weeks will test whether El-Sayed can hold onto the support that powered his primary victory.