Could This Be America’s First Muslim Senator?

By Mehdi Hasan|Team Zeteo Photos: Wikimedia Commons After left-wing candidates won big in the New York City primary elections last week, all eyes are now on Michigan as one of the latest tests for the progressive left. As voters head to the polls in just a few weeks’ time, progressive doctor and former public health official Abdul El-Sayed will face off in a heated primary against Democratic establishment favorite Congresswoman Haley Stevens and Michigan state Senator Mallory McMorrow. Among national endorsements already given, El-Sayed has the backing of two of the biggest names in progressive politics, Senator Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as well as support from Senator Chris Van Hollen and Reps. Ro Khanna, Rashida Tlaib, Pramila Jayapal, Summer Lee, and Delia Ramirez. Stevens has the support (if not formal endorsement) of Schumer and endorsements from senators including Ruben Gallego and Catherine Cortez-Masto and a battery of Democrats in the U.S. House. Senators Chris Murphy, Martin Heinrich, Elizabeth Warren, and Peter Welch endorsed McMorrow, and their support will now be up for grabs. If reporting on Sunday – that El-Sayed immediately reached out to McMorrow while Stevens did not, thinking to give her “space” – was any indication, El-Sayed will start that process quicker. Attention now switches to Grand Rapids, where on Tuesday El-Sayed and Stevens will meet on the debate stage for a high-stakes encounter, a month out from primary day. Michigan would be a hold for Democrats, given the contest is to replace the retiring Gary Peters, but success is every bit as important as attempts to flip Republican-held seats in Maine, Ohio, and Alaska. Some observers used news of McMorrow’s withdrawal to bemoan a supposed party own-goal, El-Sayed’s ascendancy a gift to the GOP, given his left-wing stances. Green of the PCCC countered, saying El-Sayed was “best positioned to win this seat for Democrats in an outsider moment – and his general election victory will send a signal to presidential primary voters about what is needed to win in 2028. “That’s why the establishment fears him – they are worried he will win the general election, not that he will lose.”