Former President Barack Obama is scheduled to campaign with Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed at an Oct. 24 rally in Detroit. The appearance puts a nationally prominent Democrat beside a nominee who won a divided primary by less than 1 percentage point, as Michigan’s required early in-person voting opens.
El-Sayed’s campaign announced the event. Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jocelyn Benson and other Michigan Democrats are also expected to appear, The Associated Press reported. El-Sayed is running against Republican Mike Rogers for an open Senate seat that could help determine which party controls the chamber next year.
Obama’s planned visit is part of a broader increase in his midterm campaigning. AP reported that he recorded two dozen ads for Democratic Senate and gubernatorial candidates in the week before its Oct. 5 report, with further appearances expected. His activity this cycle has also included campaign work in Iowa and Texas. The reports do not include a direct statement from Obama about the Detroit rally.
Michigan voters will also choose a governor, secretary of state and attorney general, and decide contests for control of the state legislature. The Senate race is one piece of a wider fight over state and federal power, though the rally announcement does not spell out a policy agenda for the event.
Obama’s appearance follows a divided primary
El-Sayed defeated U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens in the August Democratic primary by less than 1 percentage point. The contest exposed divisions over the party’s direction: Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez supported El-Sayed, while Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer backed Stevens, AP reported.
Obama’s planned appearance with El-Sayed follows his role in Stevens’ primary campaign. AP reported that Stevens’ ads included Obama praising her. The Detroit rally will put him alongside the nominee who narrowly defeated her, but the appearance alone cannot show whether Stevens’ supporters will back El-Sayed in November.
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The county-level results help explain why Detroit is a consequential setting. In Wayne County, which includes Detroit, Stevens received about 51% of the Democratic primary vote and El-Sayed received 45%, AP reported. More than three-quarters of Detroit residents are Black, the same report said; that city population figure is distinct from the countywide vote totals.
A Washington Post–Schar School poll reported by The Washington Post found that 53% of likely Michigan voters wanted Democrats to control the Senate, while 48% supported El-Sayed. Among Black voters, 83% wanted Democratic control of the Senate and 67% supported El-Sayed. The figures show higher support for Democratic Senate control than for the nominee, both statewide and among Black voters. They do not establish whether an endorsement or rally would change voters’ preferences.
Michigan’s campaign is about more than the Senate
Former Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned with El-Sayed in Detroit in September. Harris framed the midterms as a potential check on the Trump administration and said she supported El-Sayed on health care. El-Sayed presented her visit as coalition-building and emphasized a shared focus on the economy, AP reported.
The Rogers campaign offered a different interpretation of Harris’s appearance. Through a spokesperson, it characterized the visit as evidence El-Sayed needed help. That was the campaign’s assessment, not an independent measure of the race, and it came before Obama’s planned visit was announced.
The governor’s race is also active: Benson and Republican nominee John James were scheduled to debate Tuesday, Oct. 6, while El-Sayed and Rogers were scheduled to debate Oct. 8, AP reported. Those contests unfold alongside the Senate race and campaigns for other statewide offices and the legislature.
Michigan’s required early in-person voting period runs from Oct. 24 through Nov. 1, and the general election is Nov. 3, according to the Michigan Secretary of State. The rally is set for the voting period’s opening day, but the timing does not establish whether the appearance will affect participation. The next scheduled test for El-Sayed and Rogers is their Oct. 8 debate.
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