CBS News
· collected 2026-09-16 · by Kaia Hubbard, Anne Bryson, Sophia Vlahakis
Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for Michigan’s Senate race, met with Senate Democrats at the DSCC headquarters on Wednesday. Senators expressed support and enthusiasm for El-Sayed's campaign, which emphasizes progressive issues like healthcare access and labor rights. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand praised him as a "great candidate," while other senators like Mark Kelly plan to campaign for him in Michigan. Despite facing scrutiny over his association with left-wing streamer Hasan Piker, El-Sayed focused on addressing affordability concerns during the meeting.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-17,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.35, but none of the 3 quote(s) it offered could be found in the article text, so the score is not published.
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Leaning score withheld for article 14396: no verified evidence · logged 2026-09-17
Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed met with Senate Democrats on Wednesday as they look to rally around his candidacy in the final sprint to November's election.
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they → meet → election
Leaving the meeting, which took place at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee headquarters near the Capitol, Senate Democrats expressed enthusiasm around El-Sayed and his message.
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Democrats → leave → Sayed
He's going to win, and we are all united," said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, who chairs the DSCC.
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who → go → DSCC
El-Sayed
last month against a more moderate candidate who was recruited by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
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who → recruit → Schumer
But since then, Democrats have sought to bridge ideological divides on display this cycle, as they fight to hold onto the seat following Sen. Gary Peters' decision not to seek reelection.
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they → seek → reelection
Peters told reporters that the meeting was "a great opportunity" for senators to meet El-Sayed "and understand he's really a great, strong candidate.
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he → tell → Sayed
"
"He certainly showed that to everybody, and we're all excited about his campaign," Peters said.
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Peters → show → campaign
"And I know they're all looking forward to serving with him when he wins this fall."
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he → know → fall
Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, a potential presidential candidate in 2028, said he plans to go to Michigan to campaign with El-Sayed.
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he → say → Sayed
El-Sayed spoke to reporters after the meeting and said his message to skeptical Democrats was focused on how the Michigan race could be key to winning a majority in the upper chamber, which would enable Democrats to "hold Donald Trump accountable" and to "start legislating."
"We are united in so much more than people like to point to that seems to divide Democrats," El-Sayed said, citing issues like healthcare access, reproductive rights and labor issues.
uncertain
Sayed → speak → access
"These are the things that actually bring us together and we have an opportunity to actually get to work to address them."
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we → bring → them
Asked whether he needs Schumer's PAC to invest in the race, he said, "We're having really productive conversations about what it takes to win."
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it → ask → what
El-Sayed was expected to meet with Schumer later Wednesday, and said he was looking forward to a "productive meeting."
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he → expect → meeting
The former Michigan health official backs progressive policies like Medicare for All and getting money out of politics.
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official → back → politics
In the primary, he had the support of prominent progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
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he → have → Massachusetts
But he's also faced scrutiny for campaigning during the primary with left-wing streamer Hasan Piker — an association that Republicans have highlighted to argue El-Sayed is too extreme for Michigan.
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Sayed → face → Michigan
Asked about Piker, El-Sayed pivoted, telling reporters that the issue is "so far removed from what people are talking about" and highlighting affordability issues.
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people → ask → issues
Leaving the meeting, Warren praised El-Sayed, telling reporters that he "makes good connections, because it's a lot of people in there who are talking about, what can we do next?
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we → leave → what
What can we do to lower costs for families, what can we do to make this government work better for working people?
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government → do → people
"
"Here's a man who talks every day about the high costs that American families are facing, and the corruption that is Washington and Donald Trump," Warren said.
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Warren → talk → that
"It's the life he's lived.
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he → live → ?
It's a man who's a public service doctor, and he's in this fight because he wants to see an America where prices are lower for working families."
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prices → want → families
With his primary victory, El-Sayed became the latest in a string of Democratic insurgents to defeat centrists, fueling debates about the party's vision going forward, and raising questions about the conventional wisdom around electability.
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Sayed → become → electability
Those questions will be put to the test in November, when El-Sayed takes on former GOP Rep. Mike Rogers, who narrowly lost to Sen. Elissa Slotkin in the 2024 race for Michigan's other Senate seat.
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who → put → seat
Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, another prominent progressive, told reporters he's "all in" on El-Sayed and thinks his colleagues are, too.
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colleagues → tell → Sayed
"I do think the Democratic Party needs to be a party that stands for the working class, that has big ideas for how you're going to reform a fundamentally broken economy," Murphy said.
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Murphy → think → economy
"I'm sick and tired of incremental solutions to huge problems, and Abdul is somebody who's not afraid to talk about the ways that both our politics and our economy is corrupt, and I applaud him for that."
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I → talk → that
The Aporia
