Former President Barack Obama will join progressive Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed at an Oct. 24 Detroit rally as early voting opens in a race that could decide Senate control.
Obama is scheduled to appear alongside El-Sayed and the Democratic nominee for governor, Jocelyn Benson, in Detroit on Oct. 24. That date marks the first day of Michigan’s required early in-person voting period. The open Senate seat is expected to rank among the handful that will decide which party holds the majority next year.
The Associated Press first reported the plans. Obama has spoken with El-Sayed by phone since the August primary and is now lending a high-profile show of support to the progressive who narrowly prevailed.
El-Sayed defeated moderate Rep. Haley Stevens by less than a percentage point. The primary became a national test of the party’s ideological direction. Stevens had the backing of Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. Some ads for her even featured Obama praising her record.
In Wayne County, which includes Detroit, Stevens still took about 51 percent of the Democratic primary vote to El-Sayed’s 45 percent. More than three-quarters of Detroit residents are Black. El-Sayed has worked since then to consolidate Democratic support against Republican Mike Rogers.
Leading progressives Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez supported El-Sayed in the primary. Kamala Harris campaigned with him last month. Obama’s planned appearance continues that left-wing consolidation behind the nominee.
Rogers and El-Sayed are set to debate for the first time on Oct. 8. Benson faces Republican Rep. John James and will debate him for the first time on Tuesday. Michigan also has open races for secretary of state and attorney general, plus control of the state legislature at stake.
Obama taped two dozen ads last week for Democratic candidates for governor and Senate. Those spots are expected to roll out in the closing weeks. He is getting significantly more involved after selective appearances earlier in the cycle.
Earlier this year he appeared in a campaign ad with Iowa Senate candidate Josh Turek and campaigned in Texas with Senate candidate James Talarico and gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa. In September he did an event with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
This week Obama will headline a Washington fundraiser supporting Democratic Senate candidates. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee event will include a conversation with Delaware Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester. Additional campaign stops are expected later this month.
Obama campaigned in Detroit on Oct. 22, 2024, during the presidential race, with rapper Eminem introducing him. He was also in the city on Oct. 29, 2022, during the last midterms. The Oct. 24 event fits the same pattern of late-cycle appearances in Michigan.
The rally pairs the former president with both the progressive Senate nominee and the party’s gubernatorial pick on the same stage. Democrats are treating the Michigan map as central to their hopes of holding or flipping power in Washington and in the state.
El-Sayed’s narrow primary win over the Schumer-backed moderate showed where the energy sits inside the party. Obama’s decision to stand with him on the first day of early voting makes that direction plain to every voter walking into a polling place.
When the former president shows up for the furthest-left option on the ballot, taxpayers and swing voters get a clear look at the coalition Democrats are building.
