Sunday morning in Dearborn, Michigan: At Qahwa House, flyers and election information are neatly piled up. The café is a gathering place for volunteers who want to knock on doors for Abdul El-Sayed, and the atmosphere is cheerful. One of the organizers, self-employed Chadi Abdulrazek, is handing out T-shirts bearing the words “Abdul for Senate.”
There is an incredible feeling around Abdul, an enthusiasm I haven't seen since the time of Barack Obama, he says.
Abdul is different; he dares to point out what is wrong. With him, we can make a difference for future generations.
What is considered wrong in the United States depends, of course, on whom you ask. Republicans - who are backing former Congressman Mike Rogers in the Senate race here - believe that securing the borders, creating jobs and cutting taxes are important. Many want ICE to continue deporting migrants who are in the United States illegally.
But in Dearborn, which has one of the largest Arab populations in the United States, many are outraged that President Donald Trump and his running mate, Joe Biden, have supported Israel's wars in Gaza and Iran. This is both because relatives in the region have been affected by the wars and because life at home has become expensive and difficult.
"Our tax money should not be used for war. It is needed here in the United States. Food is expensive, we have many homeless people and no infrastructure," says Rosal, who is drinking coffee at the next table and does not want to give her last name.
She adds that she wants politicians to put America first - words that sound like a paraphrase of President Trump's slogan.
Spontaneous applause
The Iran war is unpopular in large parts of the United States, partly because it has driven up fuel prices significantly.
But El-Sayed, a 41-year-old doctor and public health expert, has established himself not only as an opponent of war. The leaflets that canvassers take out into the drizzle promise to remove the influence of big business from politics and expand the Medicare health insurance program to cover everyone.
"Our healthcare system focuses on billing instead of caring about people," El-Sayed himself says a few days later, speaking to a predominantly black audience in the church building The Shrine of the Black Madonna in a vulnerable part of Detroit.
"I'm passionate about this, I love working in the public sector! I love solving problems," he continues.
During the brief question-and-answer session, he is met with spontaneous applause and exclamations. The enthusiasm is palpable, even though El-Sayed is said to have trouble reaching out to black people. He emphasizes several times that his family immigrated from North Africa and that he wants to improve life in areas like the one where the church is located.
Attacked by Trump
It is clear that Abdul El-Sayed arouses strong emotions. His Egyptian background and Muslim faith are repeatedly attacked by Donald Trump, who calls him “Muhammad.”
But he has become a prominent figure in the Democrats' so-called left-wing wave and has drawn media companies to the swing state of Michigan, whose Senate election is seen as a must-win for both parties. Republicans currently hold 53 of the 100 seats in the chamber. If Democrats gain a majority, they can block legislation and prevent officials and judges appointed by Donald Trump from being confirmed.
The Michigan election brings to the fore many of the questions that now dominate American politics: Do voters care more about their wallets or their safety? How much influence does Donald Trump have on both parties? Can candidates from the right or left win, or are centrist politicians preferred?
Former President Barack Obama will soon be here to campaign with El-Sayed, and last week Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez campaigned with him. She is also described as a future leader of the progressive left, but unlike Ocasio-Cortez, El-Sayed is not a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). He has repeatedly emphasized that he is a capitalist - not a socialist.
Not pro-America?
That argument doesn't convince Larry Mareinkowski, a retired auto industry worker and Marine, who now volunteers for the Republican Party in Oakland County, north of Detroit.
Abdul is not pro-America. He wants universal healthcare, and that would mean my private insurance would disappear and my freedom of choice would be taken away. There is already health insurance for everyone; you just have to work for it, he claims.
The midterm elections are very important. If we don't send the right person to Washington, people could lose their rights.
By “the right person,” Mareinkowski means former military man and FBI agent Mike Rogers. His colleagues at headquarters nod in agreement when they hear his name, while handing out garden signs to party comrades who stop by.
Mike Rogers, 63, is a political veteran whose website features pictures of him with Donald Trump. But recently he has distanced himself somewhat from the policies that have caused Trump's popularity to decline: Rogers has, among other things, called for an end to the Iran war, citing mainly the high price of diesel for Michigan farmers.
"It's okay, everyone wants the war to end. Mike Rogers will still support President Trump and attract businesses to Michigan again," says retiree and volunteer Cara McAlister flatly.
Both she and Mareinkowski have knocked on doors for Rogers and believe that El-Sayed is too radical to serve in the Senate.
At the Dearborn coffee shop, Chadi Abdulrazek prepares to welcome more canvassers. He gets teary-eyed as he talks about the historic significance of someone like El-Sayed - who is attacked for his name and has vowed not to vote because tax dollars are being used for war - becoming a senator.
"Someday in the future my children will ask what I did to make society better. Then I want to be able to answer that I did everything," he says, collecting the flyers.
Facts: Why Michigan is in focus in the Senate election
In Michigan, Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Ohio and Texas, the battle is between Republican and Democratic majorities ahead of the Senate election, which is part of the midterm elections to Congress on November 3.
Michigan is particularly interesting because it is a swing state, and the results there could provide guidance for the 2028 presidential election.
President Donald Trump's Republican Party currently holds a majority in the Senate, with 53 of the 100 seats. Thirty-three of those seats are up for re-election, as are two others. Republicans also control the other chamber of Congress, the House of Representatives, where all seats are up for re-election.
In Michigan, the winner of the Senate election on November 3 will replace retiring Democrat Gary Peters. In the primaries, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers won their respective races.
El-Sayed was born in southeastern Michigan to Egyptian immigrants. He graduated from the University of Michigan and studied medicine on scholarships at Columbia University and Oxford. He has made a name for himself in healthcare, leading the Detroit Health Authority, where he provided free eyeglasses to needy children and cleared hundreds of thousands of residents of medical debt. El-Sayed lives in Ann Arbor with his wife and their two daughters.
Mike Rogers was born in Livingston, northwest of Detroit. He has a background in the Army and was an FBI agent focusing on anti-corruption issues in Chicago. From 1995 to 2001, Rogers served in the Michigan State Senate and was then elected to the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C., where he served until 2015. Rogers is married and has a son and a daughter.
Sources: Campaign websites, ABC News and others.