PROS & CONS

The Michigan primary race to fill the U.S. Senate seat now held by Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Township), who is leaving for retirement, has become even more contentious as the August 4 primary closes in. Peters has endorsed Congresswoman Haley Stevens of Birmingham, considered the more moderate candidate in the race, as has Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, while their Senate colleague Bernie Sanders, a social democrat, has endorsed her opponent, Abdul El-Sayed of Ann Arbor, originally from Bloomfield Hills. Mud – and allegations – against one another continue to be thrown, both at debates and on the airwaves, by the candidates and their surrogates. Stevens is a strong backer of Israel, although she has criticized the Netanyahu administration, while El-Sayed repeatedly has questioned Israel’s right to exist, calling it a “rogue state” on CNN; sympathized with the armed terrorist of Temple Israel attack in March; and had a known anti-semite social media influencer join him on the campaign trail. Stevens seeks expansion of healthcare rights; El-Sayed calls for Medicare for All. However, his wife, a psychologist, does not accept any insurance, including Medicare, for her services. He has accused Stevens of being “owned” by AIPAC and corporations because of large campaign donations while failing to acknowledge that his father-in-law, Jukaku Tayeb, according to the Washington Free Beacon, is a top donor ($300,000) to a super PAC supporting him, and was a founding member of Islamic Society of North America Founders Committee, which federal prosecutors named as an “unindicted co-conspirator… and/or is a member of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood...and there is ample evidence linking them to to Hamas.” Has former President Barack Obama endorsed Stevens? No, but she did work for him on the auto rescue task force, and he endorsed her in 2018 and 2022. El-Sayed claims he rebuilt the Wayne County juvenile jail during his time as health director; according to The Detroit News, and in his 10 weeks working on the project he made substantial changes but not significant improvements. Rather than $700 million in medical debt relief in Wayne County, as claimed, it was later revealed to be “aspirational,” with just $7 million set aside. A program prioritizing free glasses for kids through a mobile eye clinic did not provide 16,000 pair, as an ad has claimed, Bridge Michigan revealed, but “nearly 1,000.” He did post “defund the police” on social media, although it has since been removed. Stevens approved a 2025 bill that included praise for ICE agents – because it primarily condemned the antisemitic attack in Boulder, CO. And how can anyone ignore the push by the Stevens campaign over the last several weeks to get El-Sayed to finally (before August 4) file required personal financial disclosure information as a plane pulled a banner questioning that very issue when Bernie Sanders and the progressive crew held an event in Grand Rapids this past weekend. “The reality is that Abdul El-Sayed is lying, because he doesn’t want voters focused on who he really is or his radical, far-left beliefs,” said Greg Manz, senior communications director, Michigan GOP. A Democratic strategist concurred. “He lies so easily,” noting that social democrats are a “malignant force.” “They’re not interested in working with Democrats. They’re interested in pushing a narrow, far-left agenda that’s there’s not a major constituency for. You posted defund the police – and you believe it.”

• 

  Haley Stevens

• 

  Abdul El-Sayed