Abdul El-Sayed joins race for Michigan’s U.S. Senate seat with Bernie Sanders endorsement
The former public health director and one-time Whitmer rival is running on a platform supporting Medicare for All and an end to dark money in politics
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Abdul El-Sayed — a former Wayne County public health official who came in second place against Gretchen Whitmer in the 2018 Michigan gubernatorial primary — is returning to politics.
On Thursday, El-Sayed announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Gary Peters in 2026, earning the endorsement of U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders.
Raised in Michigan as the son of Egyptian immigrants, El-Sayed touted his “all-American story” in a video announcement recounting his life as a high school football player, University of Michigan graduate, and doctor.
“As I’ve spoken to Michiganders, one thing’s become clear: It’s just too hard to get by,” El-Sayed said in a statement. “But it doesn’t have to be. And to fix it, we need to break the chokehold that billionaires and oligarchs like Donald Trump and Elon Musk have on our politics and economy.”
In the video, El-Sayed emphasized his support for universal health care and denounced the influence of dark money in politics, which he says has enabled Trump and Musk.
“They’re not the disease, they’re just the worst symptom,” he said in the video. “The disease is the corruption of our politics by billionaires and corporations while the workers who built this country are forgotten.”
El-Sayed also called out the Trump administration’s targeting of immigrants, which he called “un-American.”
Since 2022, El-Sayed, 40, worked as director of the Wayne County Department of Health, Human, and Veterans Services. Before that, he co-authored the 2021 book Medicare for All: A Citizen’s Guide and wrote Healing Politics: A Doctor’s Journey into Our Political Epidemic. His writing has appeared in Metro Times.
In 2020, he served on President Joe Biden’s Unity Task Force for Healthcare, helping craft policy to lower prescription drug prices.
In 2018, El-Sayed ran against Whitmer, losing by about 250,000 votes.
While El-Sayed previously embraced the “progressive” label, in an interview for journalist Sam Robinson’s Detroit one million he said he would rather have his policy proposals speak for themselves.
“One of the things you learn as a scientist pretty quickly, is that you should only use words that mean the same things to the person who’s saying them and the person who’s hearing them,” El-Sayed said. “The problem with these labels is they mean different things.”
Sanders, who identifies as a political independent, endorsed El-Sayed’s campaign in a statement, writing:
This is an unprecedented moment in American history. We need an unprecedented response. We need candidates who are prepared to stand up for the working class of this country and take on the oligarchy. We need candidates who will stand up to Trump’s authoritarianism and protect our democratic way of life.
It is my strong view that Abdul El-Sayed is the kind of leader who will do just that.
Abdul is a physician who understands that our current health care system is broken and wildly expensive. He understands that health care is a human right, which is why he supports Medicare for All.
He understands that we have a corrupt campaign finance system, which allows billionaires and Super PACs to buy and sell politicians. He will vigorously fight to end the disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision, which allows Big Money to control our political process.
He understands that too many workers in America are earning starvation wages. He will fight to raise the minimum wage to a living wage and make easier for workers to join unions.
In other words, as a United States Senator, he will take on powerful special interests and create a government and economy that work for all of us, not just the few.
I am very proud to support Abdul to become the next senator from the great state of Michigan.
Earlier this month, state Senator Mallory McMorrow announced her campaign for Michigan’s U.S. Senate seat, becoming the first Democrat to do so.
