There’s A Proud Progressive Running For The Open Michigan Senate Seat— And It’s Not Haley Stevens

Blue America Is Endorsing Abdul El-Sayed

Because of Trump’s first two years in office, the 2018 cycle was a strong blue wave and it washed all kinds of undeserving garbage into Congress. The Democrats netted 41 seats, including many wretched conservatives the DCCC recruited who served very briefly, like Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ), TJ Cox (CA), Katie Hill (CA), Harley Rouda (CA), Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (FL), Abby Finkenauer (IA), Cindy Axne (IA), Jeff Van Drew (NJ), Max Rose (NY), Anthony Brindisi (NY), Kendra Horn (OK), Joe Cunningham (SC),Ben McAdams (UT)… Two right-of-center Michiganders also won for the first time that year: Elissa Slotkin and Haley Stevens. Both joined the New Dems and created aggressively anti-progressive records for themselves.

The two were like the Bobbsey Twins in some ways and last cycle, Elissa Slotkin was elected— barely— to the open Michigan Senate seat. Predictably, she’s gone on to create the worst record for herself of any Democratic in the Senate— worse than John Fetterman, worse than Ruben Gallego, worse than Mark Warner, worse than Jeanne Shanheen… she’s number 47 of the Senate’s 47 Democrats. She may soon have competition for the bottom slot though. Yesterday, Haley Stevens announced that she’s running for the other Senate seat, this one open because Gary Peters is retiring. 

Last cycle, Slotkin eked out the narrowest 48.64% to 48.30% win over former Michigan Rep Mike Rogers. Rogers thinks he’ll be able to beat Stevens this time and plans to run again. 

The fact that, like Slotkin, she’s a pro-genocide Democrat puts her in an awkward position against the progressive in the race, Abdul El Sayed. But AIPAC and other pro-genocide groups will spend tens of millions of dollars to boost her, advertising how wonderful she is while never mentioning Israel or Palestine.

Blue America is endorsing El Sayed again, as we did when he ran for governor. You may recall this guest post he wrote for us about Medicare for All in 2020. Last week, he was endorsed by Bernie Sanders who wrote that “This is an unprecedented moment in American history. We need an unprecedented response. We need candidates who are prepared to stand up for the working class of this country and take on the oligarchy. We need candidates who will stand up to Trump's authoritarianism and protect our democratic way of life. It is my strong view that Abdul El-Sayed is the kind of leader who will do just that. Abdul is a physician who understands that our current healthcare system is broken and wildly expensive. He understands that healthcare is a human right, which is why he supports Medicare for All... In other words, as a United States senator, he will take on powerful special interests and create a government and economy that work for all of us, not just the few. I am very proud to support Abdul to become the next senator from the great state of Michigan.”

From El-Sayed’s website: 

In the state that built the American Dream, it shouldn’t be this hard to get by. Abdul believes in an economy built by and for working people. Abdul will fight against corporate tax breaks and the capture of our economy by billionaires and would-be oligarchs. He believes that every worker deserves the right to join a union and to earn a fair wage. And he believes that one good job should pay enough to raise a family. Abdul will fight for an economy where anyone can start and grow a business to build wealth for themselves, their family, their workers, and their communities. And Abdul believes that every American deserves guaranteed healthcare regardless of what they do for work. Abdul believes in abolishing medical debt–as he did for upwards of 300,000 Michiganders.

Abdul believes that world-changing technology— like AI— should be in the hands of the people rather than unaccountable corporations. Rather than replace us, AI should be a tool to enhance our lives. And he supports legislation that would protect workers and their jobs from automation.

Trade deals, like NAFTA, have been a disaster for American manufacturing and have rotted out our towns and destroyed communities. Abdul believes in American ingenuity, grit, and know-how. And he believes that we need to build the future of the global economy in Michigan. That means investing in the research, development, and growth of the technologies of the future while using tools like tariffs in a steady, thoughtful, and targeted way to protect them as they grow. He believes that unions must have a decisive voice at the tables where decisions about the future of our economy are being made.

Abdul believes in holding corporations accountable. He believes in a muscular Federal Trade Commission that enforces anti-monopoly laws so the corporations can’t price-gouge us. And he believes in laws that would stop Wall Street speculators from wrecking good companies and killing good jobs, force publicly-traded corporations to be accountable to their workers, and protect workers on the job.

Research and development are among America’s most important assets. Rather than gut critical research agencies like the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health and pull back from funding research laboratories in universities across America, Abdul believes that our future requires us to invest more and faster. And he believes that the taxpayers who fund this research should earn back the returns on their investment.

Please consider contributing to his campaign here.