DETROIT — Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan, said Sunday that Democrats were beginning to unite after a divisive primary and disclosed that he had spoken with former President Barack Obama about the party’s prospects in the November election.
El-Sayed said the Friday conversation with Obama was “really warm and inspiring” and expressed hope that the former president would campaign for him in Michigan. Obama’s spokesperson confirmed the call.
“I was grateful for his advice. It was very warm, very inviting, and I know that he knows the critical role that Michigan is going to play,” El-Sayed said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” He said Obama’s experience winning Michigan in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections could be valuable to Democrats.
The outreach came as Michigan Democrats sought to project unity following an expensive and closely fought primary in which El-Sayed narrowly defeated U.S. Representative Haley Stevens, an establishment-backed moderate. The contest exposed divisions between the party’s progressive and moderate factions.
At a Democratic rally in Detroit, El-Sayed and other candidates presented a united front ahead of the November midterms. Stevens has endorsed El-Sayed following her defeat.
El-Sayed acknowledged the tensions of the primary but said Democrats shared more common ground than differences.
“You’re seeing folks come together,” he said in an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union.” “We might see the world differently. But we also recognize the responsibility to come together.”
El-Sayed, a former public health official, campaigned on a progressive platform and secured support from prominent figures on the Democratic left. His victory gives him the Democratic nomination in a state that is expected to be closely contested in November.
He will face Republican Mike Rogers, a former congressman who narrowly lost Michigan’s 2024 Senate election to Democrat Elissa Slotkin. Rogers has sought to capitalize on divisions among Democrats, releasing a video aimed at voters concerned that the party is moving too far to the left under El-Sayed.
The Michigan Senate race has added significance for Democrats seeking to regain control of the chamber. Democratic Senator Gary Peters is retiring, leaving the seat open in a state that has shifted between the two major parties in recent presidential elections.
El-Sayed said he hoped Obama would campaign with him before the November election. The former president has not endorsed either candidate in the Democratic primary and had remained outside the contest before the race was decided.
