El-Sayed trails by 5 points in Wayne County as Obama rallies Detroit crowd

Barack Obama spoke to thousands at Cass Technical High School in Detroit on Saturday to urge voters to support Abdul El-Sayed in the Michigan Senate race. The event coincided with the opening of early voting for the November 3 general election. Jocelyn Benson, the Democratic nominee for governor, also addressed the crowd.

Obama, who had stayed out of the primary, told the audience that El-Sayed was fighting for real change that would put money in voters' pockets. The former president said his candidate would finish the work started by the Affordable Care Act to ensure affordable healthcare for all Americans.

The endorsement resolves questions about Obama's support for El-Sayed, a Medicare for All advocate who previously described the ACA as an incremental fix. Obama acknowledged their past differences, noting that El-Sayed did not like every decision he made as president. He compared this dynamic to his wife, Michelle, who also disagrees with him on certain issues.

Obama attacked Donald Trump for enriching his family and creating a culture of taking favors. He mocked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for focusing on the jawlines and testosterone levels of troops. Obama also ridiculed the White House renovations, suggesting Trump should appear on home improvement television shows.

The Detroit stop marked the beginning of Obama's first weekend of in-person campaigning for the midterms. Earlier that day, he campaigned in Cleveland, Ohio, for Sherrod Brown and Amy Acton. He delivered similar criticisms of the White House and the Republican Party during that appearance.

El-Sayed faces a difficult task in Wayne County, where he must close a deficit from the August primary. His opponent Haley Stevens won that county 51 percent to 45 percent. Detroit, the county seat, is more than three-quarters Black. Obama last campaigned in the city in October 2024 for Kamala Harris, who joined El-Sayed in Detroit last month.

The race is statistically close. A Marist poll from mid-October showed El-Sayed at 50 percent and Mike Rogers at 48 percent, within the margin of error. RealClearPolitics data from a similar period shows El-Sayed leading by 2.6 points. The Cook Political Report rates the contest a toss-up. Rogers, a former congressman endorsed by Trump, lost to Elissa Slotkin by less than half a percentage point in 2024.

Slotkin, a featured speaker at the Saturday rally, told the crowd that Michigan believes in electing fighters. She said she and El-Sayed agree on more than they disagree, adding that they are putting a check on Trump in the White House. Trump is scheduled to visit Port Huron on Sunday. If elected, El-Sayed would be the first Muslim and first Egyptian American in the US Senate.