Rep.Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is throwing her support behind former Wayne County health director Abdul El-Sayed in the hotly contested Michigan Democratic Senate primary.
Limited time: Save 25% on NBC News subscriptionGet exclusive reporting, live Q&As and ad-free reading.The move, first reported by The New York Times, marks one of the progressive congresswoman’s most significant endorsements in the midterm cycle so far.“After watching this campaign unfold for well over a year, it has become clear that Abdul El-Sayed is the strongest candidate to keep this seat in November,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement released by El-Sayed’s campaign.
“He is building a winning coalition by putting forward an agenda that speaks directly to working people.”El-Sayed is competing in a three-way primary, facing off against Rep.Haley Stevens and state Sen.
Mallory McMorrow in the August race.The winner will advance to November’s race in one of the most closely watched battleground races.
McMorrow’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment and a spokesperson for Stevens’ campaign declined to comment.The race is the first contested Senate primary in which Ocasio-Cortez has made an endorsement.
She did not endorse candidates in contested primaries in Maine, Texas, Iowa or other states.The endorsement comes as a waive of progressive insurgents have performed well in recent congressional primaries, and as El-Sayed, who’s framed himself as the most progressive candidate in the pivotal primary, has continued to gain steam.Dr.
Abdul El-Sayed at a rally in Detroit on May 3.Jim West / Universal Images Group via Getty“AOC has spent her career taking on the powerful on behalf of everyday people, and she has shown all of us what courageous, smart, values-driven leadership looks like,” El-Sayed said in a post thanking the congresswoman.“I’m deeply honored to earn her endorsement.
Onward to victory.”Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement also pu...