Michigan Senate Divisions Surface as Jewish Leaders Criticize El-Sayed Ads

Michigan's Senate contest enters its final week with Democrats still split over nominee Abdul El-Sayed, whose primary contest against Rep. Haley Stevens left party leaders and voters at odds, and with religious leaders publicly criticizing advertising from his campaign and allied groups.

Jason Turkish, the fiance of Stevens, told The Detroit News on Wednesday that he planned to vote for Republican Mike Rogers. Hours later, Stevens appeared on CNN and said she would vote for El-Sayed while urging his campaign to "shut out the hate and call it out." Stevens added, "Make people who are in my coalition, right, make them feel comfortable about coming to the polls." Stevens drew support from Jewish and Black voters during the primary.

El-Sayed's criticism of Israel, his past remarks and his association with streamer Hasan Piker have concerned some members of Michigan's Jewish community. Turkish and other Jewish leaders have said El-Sayed has not addressed those concerns ahead of the general election. Rabbi Aaron Starr of Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield criticized an advertisement from Rebellion PAC, a left-wing independent group, as well as an ad from El-Sayed's campaign. "We are one week away from the election, and it feels like the temperature has turned way up," Starr said on a call with reporters. "Instead of things getting better over the last seven weeks, they've actually gotten worse."

The Rebellion PAC advertisement connected U.S. support for Israel to grocery prices. El-Sayed said of the ad, "That has nothing to do with our campaign" and "It's certainly not what I want to be talking about right now." Stevens and other Democrats asked him to denounce the content rather than distance himself from it. Starr also criticized the El-Sayed campaign advertisement, which featured praise from conservative figures including Tucker Carlson, who has been accused of antisemitism and has denied it.

Republicans face their own challenges, including voter dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump, the Iran war and high costs. Rogers has stayed closely aligned with Trump on most issues and appeared with him at a Michigan rally on Sunday, where he credited the president with returning manufacturing jobs to the state. El-Sayed has held campaign events in heavily Republican areas, including Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

El-Sayed has pursued college students and rural residents since the primary rather than focusing only on rebuilding the coalition that backed him before. Election Day is Nov. 3.