This Tuesday, control of the U.S. Senate may be decided in the battleground state of Michigan.
uncertain
control → decide → Michigan
The Democratic nominee, Abdul El-Sayed, could be the nation's first Muslim senator, and he's running on transformation – busting monopolies, "Medicare For All," an arms embargo on Israel.
uncertain
he → run → Israel
The Republican candidate, former congressman Mike Rogers, is eager to paint his opponent as a radical – but on policy, he tries to stay inside state lines, focused on Michigan jobs and education.
asserted
he → paint → jobs
The test for Rogers is whether a Republican can win in the shadow of inflation, war and president Donald Trump's .
asserted
Republican → win → inflation
The test for El-Sayed is whether ideas that thrill the progressive wing of the Democratic party are what Middle America wants right now.
asserted
America → thrill → what
The contest is close, contentious and it's left the two men without a kind word to say about each other.
asserted
it → leave → other
In the home stretch of an expensive, bruising, and consequential Senate race, we went to speak to both candidates – and see them in action.
asserted
we → go → action
The son of Egyptian immigrants, Abdul El-Dayed won the
against a more centrist rival by a sliver of a percentage point.
asserted
son → win → point
But he has big ambitions – not just to beat the Republican party, but to remake his own.
asserted
he → have → own
After a Rhodes Scholarship and a medical degree from Columbia University, El-Sayed went straight into public health administration and then politics.
asserted
Sayed → go → administration
He's often associated with the Democratic Socialists of America – but he isn't a member, and he keeps his distance from the label.
asserted
he → associate → label
Pick one economic issue that you think should be the priority for the next Congress.
asserted
you → pick → Congress
If you read Adam Smith, he'll tell you the biggest risk to capitalism was never government regulation.
asserted
risk → read → capitalism
You ran for office-- in 2018?
asserted
You → run → 2018
You were endorsed by Bernie Sanders in that race.
asserted
You → endorse → race
I'm a capitalist who understands the idea that you should have guaranteed healthcare in the country, anybody who tells you that's anti-capitalist is not really understanding how capitalism works.
asserted
capitalism → understand → you
El-Sayed is promising a version of Medicare For All that he says would leave private health insurance options intact.
asserted
he → promise → options
He would fund it, in part, with a sweeping tax on billionaire wealth.
asserted
He → fund → wealth
On the trail, though, he says healthcare is no longer voters' top concern.
asserted
healthcare → say → trail
What is the most important issue that you hear about from Michigan voters in this campaign?
asserted
you → hear → campaign
I think right now we are barreling toward a world where the most important issue I hear about every day is AI.
asserted
I → think → world
It comes in-- in two different ways.
asserted
It → come → ways
One is students saying, "So I just took $60,000 in loans and the job that I was supposed to have on the back end doesn't exist anymore or might not exist in ten years."
uncertain
I → say → years
Or it's folks in rural communities who say, "They're trying to put a data center in my backyard.
asserted
They → say → backyard
I already can't afford my utilities and I'm worried about what it's going to mean for our water."
asserted
it → afford → water
El-Sayed wants a Cabinet-level agency to regulate AI.
asserted
Sayed → want → AI
Where the 42-year-old Democrat sometimes sounds like a candidate for president, his Republican rival Mike Rogers is trying to keep things local.
asserted
rival → sound → things
Michigan hasn't elected a republican to the Senate in decades.
asserted
Michigan → elect → decades
Rogers hopes to make that a virtue.
asserted
that → hop → ?
And that's why I don't really care what's happening (LAUGH) around the country.
asserted
what → care → country
I need to fix Michigan.
asserted
I → need → Michigan
In a populist era, Rogers can sound like a throwback Republican.
asserted
Rogers → sound → Republican
A former Army officer and FBI agent, he left Congress after 14 years just as Donald Trump ascended.
asserted
Trump → leave → years
And his platform sometimes channels the compassionate conservative rhetoric of president George W. Bush.
asserted
platform → channel → Bush
So what's the number one piece of legislation you'd want to work on on a bipartisan basis if you were in the Senate?
asserted
you → want → Senate
Patriotism runs deep in our family.
asserted
Patriotism → run → family
One of the big reasons they were missing recruiting during COVID and other places was that kids weren't reading well enough to pass the test in America in 2026.
asserted
kids → miss → 2026
If we don't change that, we are all in trouble.
asserted
we → change → trouble
When El-Sayed recently took a bus tour with Democratic Socialist star Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez through Trump country in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, they weren't talking about literacy...
asserted
they → take → literacy
Abdul El-Sayed: "Shouldn't be this hard in the richest, most powerful country in the history of the world to afford a tank of gas"
asserted
Sayed → afford → gas
…and 88 more, not listed.
The Aporia
