Arabs

Tensions among Michigan Democrats resurfaced days before the Senate election as Rep. Haley Stevens, who lost the primary to Abdul El-Sayed, withdrew from a planned joint church appearance with El-Sayed and Rep. Jim Clyburn after a dispute over an outside group's ad linking Israel to grocery prices. Rep. Debbie Dingell, who organized the event, said she asked Stevens to stay away to avoid distraction. El-Sayed disavowed the ad but accused Stevens of relitigating the primary. The friction follows earlier criticism from Black Detroit leader Charles E. Williams II, who said many Black voters distrust El-Sayed and had backed Stevens. Democrats say they remain united as they push turnout in Detroit against Republican Mike Rogers.

Michigan's U.S. Senate race has become one of the country's most closely watched and negative contests, pitting Democrat Abdul El-Sayed against Republican Mike Rogers with control of the Senate potentially at stake. El-Sayed has cast Rogers as a "sock puppet" for Donald Trump, citing Rogers' defense of Trump's brief delay of the Gordie Howe Bridge opening and his broader alignment with the president. Rogers has countered by branding El-Sayed a "fringe extremist," pointing to his progressive positions and a bruising Democratic primary against Haley Stevens.

Recent polling shows a tight race, with El-Sayed narrowly ahead in most surveys but within the margin of error. Analysts note the outcome may hinge on turnout among Black and Jewish voters, some of whom have expressed hesitation over El-Sayed's rhetoric on Israel and ties to livestreamer Hasan Piker, as well as on Trump's low approval ratings weighing on Rogers' candidacy.