Senate candidate El-Sayed is working to consolidate support among some of the Democratic Party’s most important constituencies before Election Day.
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Former president Barack Obama plans to campaign this month with Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, becoming the second barrier-breaking Black political figure to appear alongside El-Sayed as he works to consolidate support among some of the Democratic Party’s most important constituencies.
El-Sayed’s campaign did not release details about Obama’s appearance or planned events on Oct. 24.
Former vice president Kamala Harris campaigned with El-Sayed in Detroit last month, casting the candidate as someone who is simpatico on some of the issues that have animated her political roles.
“An attack on diversity, equity and inclusion is an attack, by definition, on maternal care, including the need to protect Black women,” Harris told the crowd gathered at Birth Detroit, a Black-led community birth center. “The United States Senate should be a stopgap on the abuses of this administration. And I would suggest to you that the fellow sitting to my right would be one of them when elected.”
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Obama, the country’s first Black president, has mostly kept his distance from the Democratic Party’s policy fights, stepping into campaigns selectively and often in only the final weeks.
His decision to appear with El-Sayed could therefore carry particular weight. The Michigan Democrat survived a bruising primary but has struggled to bring together key parts of the coalition he will need in November, including Black and Jewish voters.
According to a Washington Post-Schar School poll, while 53 percent of likely Michigan voters say they want Democrats to control the Senate next year, 48 percent support El-Sayed. Among Black voters, 83 percent want Democratic control but 67 percent back El-Sayed. Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Michigan), his primary rival, performed disproportionately well with Black voters.
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