As artificial intelligence and the data centers that power it become increasingly unpopular with voters, progressive Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed is cashing in on the issue in Michigan's U.S. A New York Times/Siena poll released Thursday found that 46 percent of Michigan voters trust El-Sayed to handle AI and data centers, compared with 35 percent who favor Republican former Representative Mike Rogers. Voters are also skeptical of the technology, with 66 percent opposing the construction of AI data centers and 29 percent supporting it.
El-Sayed's advantage on data centers is wider than his lead in the race, with the poll showing him ahead 49 percent to 44 percent among likely voters overall. Newsweek reached out to both campaigns for comment on Friday. The Times/Siena result is the second-largest lead for El-Sayed in any September poll.
Only the Suffolk University survey released Monday, which gave him a 7-point advantage, showed a wider margin. The poll surveyed 605 likely voters in Michigan from September 15-22 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points. The partisan split is nearly complete.
Only 3 percent of Democrats backed Rogers, roughly matching the share of Republicans who backed El-Sayed. Independents look different in this poll than in others. El-Sayed held a 1-point edge in the Times/Siena survey, while Suffolk had him ahead by 16 points with that group.
Age is the sharpest divide. El-Sayed leads by 71 points among voters ages 18 to 29 and by 21 points among those 30 to 44. Rogers leads by 16 points among voters 45 to 64 and by 5 points among those 65 and older.
Rogers' attacks appear to have worked on one question. Fifty percent of voters described El-Sayed as the more extreme candidate, compared with 36 percent who said the same of Rogers. Voters still gave El-Sayed the edge on being an effective senator, 47 percent to 43 percent, despite Rogers' more than a decade in Congress.
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