Although they cannot bring themselves to endorse Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers outright, a pair of big names in Michigan Democratic circles have issued a plea to fellow travelers: Do not vote for Rogers' leftist opponent, Abdul El-Sayed.
Lon Johnson, the former chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, and David Kramer, a longtime Democratic strategist who worked on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's gubernatorial campaign and Sen. Elissa Slotkin's Senate campaign, made their case in an op-ed published on Friday in the Detroit News — an anti-Trump paper that officially endorsed Rogers last month.
'A vote is never owed.'
At the outset, the duo noted that El-Sayed has failed to earn the trust of "loyal Democrats," assuage their fears, and "unite a party whose nomination he won with less than 50% of the vote."
"As a result, we will not vote for Abdul El-Sayed," wrote the duo. "Some may then conclude we, or other loyal Democrats, need to vote for a different party, but for many of us, leaving the ballot blank is an act of dignity."
Johnson and Kramer stated that their "gravest concerns involve El-Sayed's associations with figures who have excused or minimized terrorism, his reluctance to unequivocally condemn dangerous rhetoric, and his support of extreme policies."
El-Sayed is a Muslim Democrat who:
- served on former President Joe Biden's Unity Task Force for Healthcare,
- defended sex-rejection mutilations for children,
- advocated in June 2020 for defunding the police, and
- still advocates today for a tax-raising "Medicare for All" scheme.
Johnson and Kramer took issue with El-Sayed's refusal during his Oct. 8 debate with Rogers to identify "whether Iran or Israel posed the greater threat to America, dismissing the comparison as hypothetical."
El-Sayed said during the debate that "both of them have proven dangerous in their own way."
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Sarah Rice/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Johnson and Kramer also expressed concern about whether El-Sayed shares the radicalism exhibited by others in his orbit.
For starters, El-Sayed is the son of Fatten Fathy Elkomy, an Egyptian immigrant who reportedly worked for an Islamic organization that the U.S. Treasury Department labeled a specially designated global terrorist organization in 2004.
The Treasury Department noted at the time of the terror designation that the group, the Islamic African Relief Agency, may have "provided direct financial support" to Osama bin Laden and, by extension, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
Elkomy's daughter and El-Sayed's half-sister, Eman Abdelhadi, is a professor at the University of Chicago who was arrested last year for allegedly spitting on an Illinois state trooper outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility.
Abdelhadi not only delivered an "October 7 blessing" on the first anniversary of the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel but has signaled a familial link to the Muslim Brotherhood, though El-Sayed has denied that he and his family have ties to it.
While a man cannot choose the family he is born into, he certainly can choose his friends.
El-Sayed brought Hasan Piker to Michigan to campaign with him on multiple occasions, including on Aug. 3.
Piker is the multimillionaire son of Muslim immigrants from Turkey who:
- stated that "America deserved 9/11" and called for another attack;
- said that he has no patriotism in his heart for America;
- identified the colors of Hezbollah terrorists as his "favorite flag";
- shrugged off sexual violence by Hamas terrorists; and
- told viewers who care about Medicaid fraud to "kill" Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.).
"Leadership is measured not only by what you say, but by what you are willing to confront," wrote Johnson and Kramer, who expressed concern about El-Sayed's relationship with Piker as well as their party's takeover by the Democratic Socialists of America.
The Democratic duo concluded that "legitimate frustration with the political establishment cannot justify surrendering our party to ideological extremism. Winning elections means little if we lose the principles and broad coalition that make governing possible."
"Supporting a candidate is a choice, not an obligation. Party loyalty is not blind obedience. Support must be earned, and a vote is never owed," they added.
El-Sayed's campaign did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.
The race for the open Michigan U.S. Senate seat remains neck and neck, according to Blaze News' Poll Watch. El-Sayed has just a 2.7 point advantage over Rogers.
Michigan Senate polls 2026: El-Sayed vs. Rogerspollwatch.theblaze.com
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