Michigan Senate Race Deepens Divisions Among Jewish, Arab American Voters/ TezzBuzz/ WASHINGTON/ J. Manour/ Michigan’s Senate contest between Mike Rogers and Abdul El-Sayed is intensifying tensions among communities already shaken by the war in Gaza. Some Jewish Democrats remain reluctant to support El-Sayed, while Arab American leaders condemn Republican attacks invoking his Muslim faith. The race combines questions of security, identity and party loyalty as voters prepare to choose a senator on Nov. 3.
Quick Look
- Open-seat contest: Republican Mike Rogers faces Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, who would become the country’s first Muslim senator.
- Jewish voter outreach: Rogers is campaigning heavily in Oakland County after a divisive Democratic primary.
- Unsupported allegations: There is no evidence that El-Sayed is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood.
- Democratic divisions: Some Jewish Democrats remain concerned about El-Sayed’s statements and political associations.
- Community outreach: El-Sayed’s supporters are meeting with undecided Jewish voters in small gatherings.
- Arab American backlash: Leaders, including former Trump supporters, say religious attacks cross a line.
Deep Look
Michigan Senate Contest Raises Questions of Faith and Identity
WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. — Michigan’s open U.S. Senate race has become deeply personal for Jewish and Muslim voters confronting questions of security, identity and political allegiance.
In Detroit’s suburbs, some Jewish Democrats are weighing whether they can support their party’s nominee, Abdul El-Sayed. In nearby Dearborn, Arab American leaders who helped Donald Trump win support in 2024 are expressing alarm over Republican rhetoric.
El-Sayed, a former public health official, faces Republican Mike Rogers, a former congressman, in the Nov. 3 election. If elected, El-Sayed would become the first Muslim member of the U.S. Senate.
The contest is unfolding in communities already affected by Israel’s war in Gaza. A West Bloomfield synagogue recovering from an attack this year sits approximately a half-hour drive from Dearborn’s “Wall of Tears,” which commemorates children killed in Gaza.
Close Friends Find Themselves Divided Over El-Sayed
The race has strained relationships between longtime friends Lori Goldman and Mimi Price-Miletic.
Goldman, a Jewish Democratic activist, described Rogers’ approach as “a fear campaign.”
“It’s spreading and it’s not spreading slowly,” she said. “It’s spreading insidiously and widely and effectively.”
Price-Miletic, a Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus memberdoes not support El-Sayed and has not ruled out voting for Rogers.
“Lori Goldman is my best friend,” said Price-Miletic. “This summer I said we cannot discuss Abdul. I don’t want to hear his name. We’ve agreed to disagree and we don’t talk about it.”
“She adores him,” she added. “And I feel the exact opposite of her.”
Rogers Courts Jewish Voters After Divisive Democratic Primary
Rogers has made Jewish voter outreach a central part of his campaign following El-Sayed’s contentious primary against Rep. Haley Stevens.
Israel was a major dividing issue in that contest. Stevens, a strong supporter of Israel, benefited from approximately $30 million in spending by organizations affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Her congressional district includes much of Oakland County, home to a significant share of Michigan’s Jewish population.
Rogers has concentrated attention there and plans an October event with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz titled “Who Will Keep Us Safe? Rogers vs. El-Sayed in the Wake of October 7th and the Temple Israel Attack.”
Oakland County Republican Party chair Vance Patrick said Rogers was “definitely making some headway” and that Jewish voters were “listening to the Republican Party this time.”
Temple Israel Attack Remains Central to Campaign Debate
Patrick said Rogers had visited synagogues throughout the county, including Temple Israel in West Bloomfield.
In March, a man drove a truck carrying fireworks and gasoline into the synagogue and exchanged gunfire with a security guard.
The attacker was a naturalized citizen originally from Lebanon who lived in Dearborn Heights. He had recently lost relatives in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon.
El-Sayed condemned the attack but faced criticism for saying “hurt people hurt people.”
He later apologized, saying “to anyone who feels like my comments might have been hurtful, I’m really sorry.”
Rogers and his allies have repeatedly cited those remarks.
Rogers claimed El-Sayed “can’t condemn terrorism in our own country because he’s so close to the people who are supporting the Muslim Brotherhood.”
No Evidence Supports Muslim Brotherhood Affiliation Claim
Trump escalated the rhetoric Wednesday by claiming El-Sayed belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood.
There is no evidence that El-Sayed has any affiliation with the organization.
His half-sister, Eman Abdelhadi, wrote in 2012 that “my family has long been MB” and described a conversation with her mother about involvement in the organization in the early 1970s.
El-Sayed, born in Michigan to Egyptian immigrant parents and raised by his father, told NBC this week that the posts were “hearsay.”
The Trump administration designated the Egyptian, Jordanian and Lebanese branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations earlier this year.
Rogers has also laughed at a visiting Republican senator’s remark that El-Sayed slept in an Osama bin Laden jersey and agreed with a social media post calling him a terrorist.
Democrats Work to Reassure Undecided Jewish Voters
Democrats continue working through divisions left by the primary.
Oakland County, with approximately 1.3 million residents, has shifted from a Republican stronghold toward Democrats over the past two decades, making it politically consequential.
Jewish state Sen. Jeremy Moss, who is running for a House seat covering much of the county, has not endorsed El-Sayed. Stevens has endorsed him but has not campaigned alongside him.
Price-Miletic cited El-Sayed’s appearances with streamer Hasan Piker, whose comments have drawn accusations of antisemitism, as one reason she would not support him.
Goldman, who founded Fems for Dems, said she believed much of the rhetoric about El-Sayed was untrue.
Republicans, she said, “are preying upon the fears that are engendered in every Jewish person because past is prologue.”
House Gatherings Offer Space for Discussion
El-Sayed’s supporters, including local leaders and prominent Democratshave organized house gatherings to speak with undecided Jewish voters.
Former Michigan Rep. Andy Levin, who is Jewish and supports El-Sayed, has participated in many of those discussions.
“We don’t take a hard sell approach at all,” Levin said. “It’s more like a bunch of Jews coming together and saying, ‘OK, let’s all talk about our fears, our hopes, our anxieties.’”
Dearborn Leaders Condemn Republican Religious Attacks
In Dearborn, many Arab American voters rejected Democrats in 2024 over President Joe Biden’s support for Israel.
Trump carried the city of nearly 100,000 people by 6 percentage points. Since his return to office, however, criticism of his administration has grown.
Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, a Democrat who did not endorse a presidential candidate in 2024, described Republican rhetoric about El-Sayed and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani as “very problematic.”
“You’ve seen Sen. Cruz and other U.S. senators bringing poster boards onto the Senate floor, basically trying to tie them to terrorist organizations or call them terrorists themselves, just because of their faith,” Hammoud said.
Former Trump Outreach Leader Says Rhetoric Crosses a Line
Bishara Bahbah, who helped lead Trump’s Michigan outreach in 2024, also criticized the attacks.
“Any attack based on a person’s religion is not acceptable,” he said. “Abdul El-Sayed was born and raised in the United States. He’s as American as they come.”
Bahbah renamed his organization Arab Americans for Trump to Arab Americans for Peace early in Trump’s term. He said the president’s rhetoric toward El-Sayed crossed a “red line.”
“President Trump several times thanked the Arab American population for their support of his candidacy. I think the people around him should remember that,” Bahbah said. “Because elections are coming up.”
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