Michigan Democratic Senate nominee El-Sayed faces questions over Black voter support and campaign affiliations
Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan, won a narrow primary victory over Rep. Haley Stevens earlier this month. Analysis of primary results found that El-Sayed underperformed in precincts with higher concentrations of Black voters, with Stevens leading by an average of eight points in counties where Black residents make up 15% or more of the population, according to a collective analysis by The Hill. Fox News's Power Rankings rate the Michigan Senate race as a toss-up.
Single source · Not corroborated
El-Sayed won his Democratic primary by a razor-thin margin, and the breakdown of his vote share has drawn attention to his standing with Black voters — a demographic that historically delivers significant support to Michigan Democrats. Analysis cited by Fox News Digital found that in counties with the highest concentrations of Black residents, his primary opponent Haley Stevens outpaced him by an average of eight points.
El-Sayed performed strongly in the Arab-American communities of Dearborn and Hamtramck, according to Fox News Digital. The divergence between his performance in those communities and in majority-Black precincts prompted commentary from Detroit-area residents interviewed by Fox News.
Fox News Digital spoke with roughly a dozen Black voters in Detroit, most of whom said they believed the Democratic Party had either failed to prioritize their concerns or taken their support for granted. "It's always a ploy to get the Black vote, make all these promises, but once that vote is in and stuff like that, then it's operation as normal," one voter said. A Detroit-area pastor who said he personally knows and supports El-Sayed acknowledged that Democrats "discovered that if you're not courted and not talked to or whatever, we don't necessarily turn out for you."