Far left Dem Abdul El-Sayed defies bitter party mutiny to rout Mike Rogers in Michigan Senate race
WASHINGTON — Democrat Abdul El-Sayed pulled off a stunning defeat over Republican Mike Rogers in the crucial Michigan Senate contest, shattering conventional wisdom that a hard-left candidate couldn’t win a purple battleground.El-Sayed is now the first Muslim elected to the Senate in US history.“Michigan, we did it,” El-Sayed said at a victory party in Detroit.“I am so proud and honored to stand here as your senator-elect from the great state of Michigan.”El-Sayed led Rogers 52-46% when AP called the race at 2:27 AM.The Michigan Senate seat, vacated by retiring Sen.Gary Peters (D-Mich.), had widely been seen as necessary to Democrats’ chances of reclaiming the upper chamber.El-Sayed ran to the far left on a platform of ending the current health insurance system in favor of universal Medicare for All coverage, abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), dramatically taxing the rich and cutting off military aid to Israel.
He’s been noncommittal about backing Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to lead the Democrats, preferring Sen.Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) instead.“The current minority leader has given all of us ample reason to question whether or not he would be our best bet heading into a cycle where we might have the majority, and I think there’s absolutely room for change,” El-Sayed told The Post in August.“A vote is a choice between two or more options.
I don’t know what other options are.If it happened to be a guy named John Fetterman from Pennsylvania, or Chuck Schumer, well then, I’d make a different decision,” the lefty Democrat added.El-Sayed had emerged politically bruised from a grueling three-way primary in August.
During that primary contest, he courted the far-left by stumping with controversial streamer Hasan Piker and other lefty figures.He also made his opposition to Israel a top issue against primary rival Rep.Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), a self-described Zionist and comparatively moderate Democrat.
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