WARREN, Mich. — If Democrat Abdul El-Sayed pulls off a win next month in Michigan’s U.S. Senate race, he and the state’s senior senator — Elissa Slotkin — will make a unique duo.
The two Democrats will both have defeated the same Republican opponent — Mike Rogers — to get the job. They will both be among the youngest lawmakers in the chamber. And they may very well be, as Slotkin has said, the youngest state delegation in the Senate come next year.
They also will share some notable differences.
El-Sayed is a Muslim man, and Slotkin is a Jewish woman — a distinction that has taken on particular significance given the number of column inches that have been spent focusing on El-Sayed’s views on Israel and Middle East politics.
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In an exclusive joint interview with MS NOW this weekend, just moments after the pair wrapped up their first joint appearance of the campaign, El-Sayed and Slotkin touted their different faith backgrounds and foreign policy beliefs as “good for Michigan.”
El-Sayed said he looks forward to being able “to demonstrate that you can have deeply held disagreements and still choose to fight together on the deeply held points of agreement.”
“That is a choice, and that’s a choice that people in Michigan have been making for a very long time,” he said. “It’s exciting that we might be able to model that at the level of the United States senate.”
Slotkin agreed, telling MS NOW that “people want to see a Jewish woman and a Muslim man being able to get along, debate, push and pull on each other, and move the state forward.”
“It may be even important internationally for the world to see that we can actually get along, even though there are things where we really disagree on,” she added.
MS NOW spoke with El-Sayed and Slotkin on Saturday following their appearance at an hourlong town hall that drew hundreds of voters, local politicians and activists.
The location of the gathering — especially given that it was their first joint event — was notable in and of itself: a union hall in bellwether Macomb County.
Two years ago, Slotkin’s performance in Macomb helped propel her to victory in her Senate race despite President Donald Trump winning Michigan on the same night.
Slotkin outperformed Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in the county, losing by approximately 9 points compared to Harris’ 14 point loss to Trump.
“Macomb County is going to be absolutely critical,” El-Sayed told the crowd on Saturday.
Of course, a boost from Slotkin here could help.
Waiting in line to enter the town hall, Macomb County voter Christina Jolly told MS NOW that having Slotkin on the trail with El-Sayed “means a lot,” arguing it could serve as a reassurance to those who may be on the fence about the Democratic nominee.
“You have different beliefs where they do disagree, but they agree on what’s important for America,” Jolly said.
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During the event, El-Sayed and Slotkin echoed that theme — telling the crowd that just because they did not agree on every policy prescription for the country’s problems (see: healthcare) or foreign policy didn’t mean they disagreed on the things they considered “really important.”
The duo fielded questions on what they will do to fight corruption in government, how they will stand up for union workers and what they will do to protect public education.
Throughout the event, they both cast themselves as fighters — eager to tackle rising costs, defend the middle class and take on Trump’s alleged corruption.
“I am on Team Fight,” Slotkin told the crowd. Pointing at El-Sayed, she added, “And I need someone with me who is on Team Fight.”
The question remains, however, what such “fighters” can actually get done in Washington. Even if Democrats manage to wrest control of both chambers in November, Trump will still have his veto pen.
Asked what’s reasonable to expect a Democrat-controlled Congress to actually accomplish in that environment — beyond oversight of the executive branch — the duo pointed to issues like addressing artificial intelligence and food safety.
Slotkin invoked the grassroots pressure around artificial intelligence, casting it as an issue that has “bubbled right up to the House and the Senate” in recent months and that is not necessarily “Democrat versus Republican.”
El-Sayed — who leaned on his past work in public health to rail against recent food recalls, including notably of lettuce — argued that “existential” issues “should be easy to get done” given the public outcry from the American public.
“The idea that we should be dodging lettuce in the United States of America is nuts,” he told MS NOW.
At the same time, though, both did not discount the potential political benefit if Democrats have their agenda blocked by Trump. Both agreed it would be wise for the party to pass legislation fulfilling their campaign promises — such as addressing the cost of living — and “dare” Trump to veto or ignore it.
“Challenging Donald Trump to vote against a housing bill or to vote against something that makes people have a better quality of life,” Slotkin said, “dare him to do that in front of the American public.”
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Both El-Sayed and Slotkin have made a point on the campaign to talk about ushering a new generation of Democrats into office.
Speaking with MS NOW, Slotkin suggested her call for change has more to do with tactics than any internecine left versus moderate standoff within the party.
Some of her current colleagues, she said, “grew up in a Senate that I have never seen or experienced.”
“I’m interested in people across the political spectrum who are interested in a new approach to exerting oversight and power,” she said.
El-Sayed echoed that tactical argument, pointing to social media and how short clips online can help craft the political narrative.
“You think about how the Senate operates, it is quite clear that the body does not fully take seriously that information moves by way of the internet and clips,” he said.
“There is an opportunity for us to upgrade not just our tactics, but also an understanding of strategy about what conversation we ought to have,” El-Sayed added. “Democracy is not just a conversation between 100 senators. Democracy is a conversation between all of us and the 350 million people who elect all of us.”
MS NOW’s interview with El-Sayed and Slotkin came as polling shows that the race between El-Sayed and Rogers remains neck-and-neck.
A recent Fox News poll put El-Sayed ahead by only 1 point among likely voters. Other surveys have El-Sayed with a slightly larger lead but still within the margin of error.
At the same time, in other redder pockets of the country — such as Texas, Alaska and even Kansas — Democrats are making major inroads in the polls.
If Democrats are seeing the tide rising in these Trump-friendly areas, then why isn’t the race in Michigan less of a nail-biter?
El-Sayed told MS NOW that it’s because of the “deep money disadvantage” that he’s facing as Republican groups pour money into the state.
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He also pointed to how Republicans have sought to make El-Sayed a bogeyman well beyond Michigan’s borders.
“JD Vance literally told all of the Republicans to just run against me,” El-Sayed said. “They want to distract some of the issues on which this election is going to really hinge: the price of gas, the price of groceries. Can you see a doctor?”
For her part, Slotkin predicted that the Midwest could be “the story” of election night.
Arguing voters in the Midwest tend to be “very practical, reasonable people,” Slotkin told MS NOW that folks here are “absolutely fed up with the failure of Donald Trump to do the one thing he said he was going to do, which is put money in the pocket.”
Saturday’s town hall may have been Slotkin’s first campaign stop alongside El-Sayed, but it was hardly her first time on the trail this cycle.
Outside of Michigan, Slotkin has campaigned for Democrats over the past year in places such as Iowa, Ohio and Pennsylvania — states that are, notably, traditional presidential battlegrounds. She is also set to headline a fundraiser in Nevada in the coming days.
Asked about 2028 and a potential presidential bid, Slotkin didn’t count herself out of the running, but she declined to show her cards.
Explaining her campaign travel, she returned to her “next generation” pitch, telling MS NOW, “I just want to be a part of that next generation that’s going to do big things in the country.”
“Whether it’s me, someone else,” she said, “that new generation and kind of shepherding in that new — I want to be part of that.”
If things go Democrats’ way in a month, El-Sayed could be one part of that new generation.
Kevin Frey is a congressional reporter for MS NOW.
Peggy Helman is an associate producer at MS NOW.