Fox News
· collected 2026-09-17 · by Alex Miller, Robert Schmad, Hannah Brennan
Michigan’s insurgent progressive Senate nominee ran as far as he could from Washington, D.C., but, on Wednesday, he traveled to the nation’s Capitol for a closed-door meeting with top Democratic brass as the race for power intensifies.
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race → run → power
Abdul El-Sayed met with top Senate Democrats just hundreds of yards away from Congress, where lawmakers and the wunderkind candidate huddled to discuss his campaign and how to keep Michigan blue.
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lawmakers → meet → Michigan
Many left boasting that the Wolverine State would not turn a shade of purple.
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State → leave → purple
But few, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., would say whether the fences broken during El-Sayed’s primary fight had been mended.
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fences → include → fight
"Look, we have to win Michigan, and we had a great and friendly meeting," Schumer said when asked by Fox News Digital if he and El-Sayed had moved on from their differences.
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he → look → differences
Still, El-Sayed held court with Democratic brass for hours at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s (DSCC) headquarters in Washington, where a steady flow of lawmakers — both allies and skeptics of his Senate bid — milled in and out of the building throughout the day.
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flow → hold → day
Schumer and Democrats are confident and determined that they can flip the Senate, which Republicans hold with a 53-47 margin.
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Republicans → flip → margin
Losing Michigan to the GOP and former Rep. Mike Rogers would serve a mortal blow to that push.
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Losing → lose → push
"He’s gonna win," Sen. Kirstin Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who is also the DSCC chair, said.
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who → go → ?
The key mission for Democrats is getting independents and Republicans on the fence.
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independents → get → fence
But few, including Schumer, said they would actually hit the campaign trail with El-Sayed.
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they → include → Sayed
It all comes after El-Sayed and Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., locked horns in one of the most bitter Democratic primary fights of this cycle that pitted the Democratic old guard versus a progressive movement gaining steam across the country.
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that → come → country
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who initially endorsed Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow before she dropped out, told Fox News Digital, "Obviously, primaries can get really hot, and the Michigan primary got hot.
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primary → endorse → Digital
"This is what you do after a primary is you try to unite the party and then you do the work to reach out and cross over to independent voters and Republican voters," Murphy added.
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Murphy → do → voters
"So, I don't think anybody should be surprised that he's trying to build bridges after a heated primary.
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he → think → primary
That's what good candidates, that's what winning candidates do."
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candidates → win → what
Another McMorrow backer, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., painted a rosy picture of the closed-door session and noted it was "hard to hear in there because so many people were talking and laughing and wanted to hear about the campaign.
"
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people → paint → campaign
He makes good connections because it's a lot of people in there who are talking about, ‘What can we do next? What can we do to lower costs for families?
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we → make → families
What can we do to make this government work better for working people?’
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government → do → people
Retiring Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., whose seat El-Sayed is gunning for, initially endorsed Stevens.
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Sayed → retire → Stevens
Now, he’s shifting gears.
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he → shift → gears
"I'm endorsing him, and he's been getting support across the board in Michigan.
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he → endorse → Michigan
The Democrats are coming together," Peters said in response to a question about whether the Democratic establishment was uniting behind El-Sayed.
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establishment → come → Sayed
"We understand how important this election is."
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election → understand → ?
Others were more keen to lend an assist to El-Sayed, including Murphy and Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., who said, "I’m gonna be in Michigan here in a couple of weeks."
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I → lend → weeks
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., who is running for re-election in deep blue Massachusetts, said that Democrats’ strategy heading into the final stretch was pitching an affordability agenda, and El-Sayed "is the answer.
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Sayed → run → agenda
"I'm helping him.
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I → help → him
I think we're all gonna help," Markey said when asked if he would raise money for El-Sayed.
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he → think → Sayed
The specter of El-Sayed’s relationship with controversial Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who helped to amplify his campaign in the primary battle, wasn’t something that Democrats focused on during their huddle.
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Democrats → help → huddle
"Hasan what?," Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told Fox News Digital when asked if he came up during the meeting.
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he → tell → meeting
"I don’t even know who that is."
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that → know → ?
When asked if Piker came up or if Democrats encouraged El-Sayed to further distance himself from him, Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., said, "Not in terms of the conversation.
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Kim → ask → conversation
Like I said, I was just trying to get to know him."
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I → say → him
After initially dodging Fox News Digital’s question on whether he would campaign with Piker, El-Sayed later told reporters, "This conversation is so far removed from what people are talking about.
"
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people → dodge → what
Everyday, in Michigan, people sit at their kitchen tables and ask, 'How am I going to make this work next month?’
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this → sit → tables
That’s not a middle, right, left issue, that’s a basic affordability issue."
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that → ’ → ?
When further pressed, he countered that Michigan voters "really don’t care about that."
"They really don't," El-Sayed said.
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Sayed → press → that
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