Former President Barack Obama will campaign for Abdul El-Sayed, Michigan's progressive Democratic Senate nominee, at an event in Detroit, as Democrats fight to hold an open seat that could help decide control of the upper chamber. Obama will appear with El-Sayed at an October 24 rally, less than two weeks before Election Day, alongside other top Michigan Democrats, including gubernatorial nominee Jocelyn Benson. The former president is stepping up his role in the midterms, with more campaign stops and ads expected in the closing weeks.
"It is my honor and privilege to announce that President Barack Obama is joining us on the trail in Detroit on Saturday, October 24," El-Sayed wrote on X, where he has more than 300,000 followers. The Detroit event is a notable show of support for El-Sayed, who defeated moderate Representative Haley Stevens in an August primary and has since worked to consolidate Democratic support in his race against Republican Mike Rogers. Obama is the latest in a string of high-profile Democrats to join El-Sayed on the campaign trail in recent weeks.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned with him last month in Detroit, where the two held a roundtable on Black maternal health. Obama's rally news comes as recent polls show El-Sayed holding a narrow edge over Rogers, with several surveys putting the race within a few points. A Fox News poll, conducted by Beacon Research and Shaw & Company Research from September 24 to 28, found El-Sayed leading Rogers 50 percent to 49 percent among 1,028 likely voters.
A Trafalgar Group survey taken September 28 to 30 showed a similar picture, with El-Sayed ahead 47 percent to 45 percent among 1,085 likely voters. Trafalgar is a Republican-leaning firm. Other polls have given El-Sayed more breathing room.
Marist University found him up 51 percent to 44 percent among 1,235 registered voters in a survey conducted September 24 to 27, while a Big Data Poll survey for the Public Polling Project, taken September 22 to 24, had him leading 47 percent to 42 percent among 678 likely voters. This is a breaking news story. Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story.
Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jason Lemon and Edward T.
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