New York Times Opinion: Abdul El-Sayed Strongest Senate Pick

MICHIGAN – Today, The New York Times Opinion released the latest installment of its election series, The Choice, determining that Abdul El-Sayed has the greatest potential to be a strong senator. 

To make the determination, Times Opinion convened a bipartisan panel of local leaders and experts, including Michigan political leaders, journalists, pollsters, and policy experts to evaluate the Democratic primary candidates. They found: 

ABDUL WOULD BE THE STRONGEST POTENTIAL SENATOR

“Pundits, organizers, and voters agree that Abdul is the strongest candidate for the general election,” said Campaign Manager Alia Kapasi. “We’re looking forward to proving them right in August and November.”

In addition to the headline ranking that Abdul would be the strongest senator, the panel evaluated the race on a number of different criteria that are important to Michiganders including AI regulation, which is emerging as a top issue for all voters, and opposition to Trump, a top issue for Democratic voters. The panel determined:

ABDUL WOULD BE THE STRONGEST VOICE ON PROTECTING MICHIGAN FROM UNREGULATED AI 

ABDUL WOULD BE THE MOST OPPOSITIONAL TO TRUMP AND HIS AGENDA

Among the panel’s observations:

“Michigan is ready for change.”

“[Abdul has] charisma — a boundless energy when it comes to that. Youth, vigor.”

“There are some places and some communities in the metro Detroit area where [Gaza] is the only concern that they have. It is a litmus test for some in Michigan in the same way that abortion has been.”

The article comes amid a surge of momentum for Abdul’s campaign. This weekend, Senator Bernie Sanders, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other special guests joined Abdul and more than 6,000 Michiganders for rallies across the state in Detroit, Lansing and Grand Rapids. 

Since then, Abdul has grown his coalition, earning endorsements from Senator Elizabeth Warren, a former endorser of State Senator Mallory McMorrow, and State Rep. Reggie Miller, a swing district state house member in a Trump x2 district encompassing heavily working class towns in Wayne County. 

Senator Warren will be joining Abdul this weekend in Ferndale for GOTV events to further energize supporters and drum up volunteer numbers ahead of the hotly-contested primary. View her endorsement video here.

###