LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – More than 700 Michigan doctors have endorsed Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, offering support for his medical credentials as Republican opponent Mike Rogers continues to question whether El-Sayed should call himself a physician.
In total, the letter contains more than 1,000 listed signatories of medical professionals, including physicians, nurses, dermatologists, and other medical workers.
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However, the endorsements from actual “doctors” represent less than 2% of Michigan’s 37,018 professionally active physicians, according to September 2026 data from KFF, formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation. The endorsement letter was organized by the Committee to Protect Health Care PAC, a group that has already endorsed El-Sayed in the Senate race.
Who is the Organization That Collected the Signatures?
The Committee to Protect Health Care is a politically active nonprofit organization that mobilizes physicians to support candidates and health care policies aligned with its priorities, including abortion rights and expanded health care access. The organization operates a political action committee, has endorsed hundreds of candidates and reported spending more than $1 million on political advertising in 2024. Its affiliated political action committee separately reported approximately $593,000 in spending that year, according to Federal Election Commission records.
It also has a history of organizing physician letters on political issues, including a campaign that gathered more than 22,000 doctors’ signatures opposing President Donald Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services secretary. The group has also mobilized doctors to oppose Republican-backed Medicaid cuts, making its endorsement of Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed part of a broader history of political advocacy.
And while the El-Sayed endorsements demonstrate support among some medical professionals, they represent only a small portion of Michigan’s actual physician population.
The letter and list of signatories appear on an Action Network website, which is an online platform used by political campaigns, advocacy organizations, labor unions, nonprofits and grassroots groups to organize supporters and promote causes.
Who Signed the Letter?
The letter contains 1,024 listed signatories representing approximately 216 communities. Importantly, not all signatories are physicians. The list includes nurses, physician assistants, dentists, chiropractors, psychologists, and other health professionals. In the top five, Ann Arbor has the most signatories (106), followed by Grand Rapids (66), Traverse City (38), Detroit (31), and Holland and Kalamazoo tied (30). These six communities account for 301 signatories, or approximately 29.4% of the entire list.
Hiding the Names
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While the letter includes signatories supporting Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, the public isn’t given their full names. Instead, the list identifies each signer by only the first initial of their first name and the first three letters of their last name, along with their medical credentials and specialty. Michigan News Source contacted the Committee to Protect Health Care to request the complete list of signatories but did not receive it from the organization.
What Does the Letter Say?
The letter actually admits that El-Sayed is not a practicing physician and gives an excuse for him saying that, “Dr. El-Sayed earned his medical degree and, like many of us at some point in our careers, faced a choice about where to direct a life in medicine. He chose public health; not because it was the easier path, but because it multiplies what a doctor can do, extending care from one patient at a time to entire cities and states.” The letter continues, “As Detroit’s health officer, he rebuilt a department hollowed out by decades of disinvestment, expanded access to care in some of the state’s most underserved neighborhoods, and led the city’s response to public health emergencies most physicians never encounter in an entire career. That is medicine, practiced at scale, and it is exactly the kind of clinical judgment Michigan needs in the United States Senate.”
A Medical Degree, But No License to Practice
The endorsements come amid growing scrutiny of El-Sayed’s medical qualifications. Although El- Sayed earned a medical degree from Columbia University and a doctorate in public health from Oxford University, he has never completed a medical residency or obtained a license to practice medicine. El-Sayed chose a career in public health administration rather than clinical medicine, previously leading health departments in Detroit and Wayne County.
During the October 8 Senate debate, Rogers challenged his opponent’s credentials, declaring, “He’s not really a doctor.”
El-Sayed defended his education and medical background, arguing that his experience in public health qualifies him to address the nation’s health care challenges.
Do the Endorsements Settle the Debate?
With Election Day quickly approaching, the endorsements may give El-Sayed a political shot in the arm with voters who don’t look into the specifics of where they come from, but they don’t necessarily cure the questions surrounding his medical credentials. With fewer than 2% of Michigan’s physicians signing on and the identities of those supporters largely hidden from public view, voters may want a second opinion before accepting the endorsement as a clean bill of health.
