ESCANABA, Mich. (Michigan News Source) — Michigan Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed campaigned across the Upper Peninsula on Thursday alongside U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., as Election Day draws closer.
El-Sayed’s town hall tour included stops in Escanaba, Iron Mountain and Marquette, where he promoted familiar campaign themes, including Medicare for All and getting money out of politics.
Trump and El-Sayed trade attacks
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The campaign stops came as Vice President JD Vance criticized El-Sayed during a Republican rally Thursday in Monroe. President Donald Trump also called El-Sayed a “Muslim Brotherhood guy” during remarks at the White House.
In a separate video, Trump said, “Even though he denies it, all you have to do is look at his past correspondence.”
Resurfaced social media posts from El-Sayed’s half-sister have raised questions about his family’s connections to the organization. She wrote that their mother and other relatives had been Muslim Brotherhood members. El-Sayed disputed that account, saying he was raised by his father and stepmother rather than his biological mother.
Jewish Insider also reported that, in a 2021 article, El-Sayed defended a friend whose father was a senior Brotherhood official. Those reported connections do not establish that El-Sayed himself is a member.
At his Iron Mountain stop, El-Sayed called Trump a “punk” and mocked the president’s wealth and hand size.
Campaigning in Trump territory
The U.P. tour included two counties that strongly supported Trump in 2024 and one that backed Kamala Harris.
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Delta County, home to Escanaba, voted approximately 65% for Trump and 34% for Harris. Dickinson County, which includes Iron Mountain, backed Trump approximately 67% to 31%. Marquette County favored Harris approximately 53% to 45%.
Trump carried 14 of the U.P.’s 15 counties and won Michigan’s 15 electoral votes.
Rogers campaign focuses on gas prices
Meanwhile, Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers spoke at Thursday’s Monroe rally alongside Vance and other Republican candidates.
His wife, Kristi Rogers, campaigned Wednesday in Detroit, handing out $10 gas gift cards at Freedom Fuel on Harper Avenue and Cadieux Road while highlighting her husband’s call to suspend gas taxes.
The campaign pitched $10 as roughly what drivers could save per fill-up under Rogers’ proposal to suspend state and federal gas taxes. Actual savings would depend on the amount purchased.
Detroit resident Dennis Ester praised her appearance in the neighborhood.
“It takes a lot of courage to come up here in the hood and come out and do this,” Ester told the Michigan Chronicle.
Early voting and Obama’s visit approach
Thursday also brought the second and final gubernatorial debate between Democrat Jocelyn Benson and Republican John James in Detroit.
Campaigning continues as Michigan voters return absentee ballots and the required statewide early voting period approaches. That period runs Oct. 24 through Nov. 1, ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
Former President Barack Obama is scheduled to campaign with El-Sayed, Benson and other Michigan Democrats in Detroit on Oct. 24.
