For many voters in Michigan, the U.S. Senate race has become about far more than which party controls Washington.
asserted
party → become → Washington
In the Detroit suburbs, some Jewish Democrats are confronting deeply personal questions about faith and identity as they weigh whether they can support their party’s nominee.
asserted
they → confront → nominee
Just miles away in Dearborn, Arab American leaders who backed President Donald Trump two years ago are growing increasingly alarmed by Republican rhetoric.
asserted
who → back → rhetoric
The concerns are rippling through communities already shaken by Israel’s war in Gaza that followed the attack on Israel by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.
asserted
that → ripple → Oct.
Now they are central players in the bitter open-seat race between Republican Mike Rogers, a onetime congressman, and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, a former public health official who would be the country’s first Muslim senator if elected on Nov. 3.
asserted
who → elect → Nov.
Rogers has increasingly portrayed El-Sayed as an extremist and a threat to Jewish voters as the Republican tries to win over a traditionally Democratic constituency.
asserted
Republican → portray → constituency
Rogers laughed when a visiting Republican senator said El-Sayed slept in an Osama bin Laden jersey, and he agreed with a social media post calling El-Sayed a terrorist.
asserted
he → laugh → Sayed
In West Bloomfield, a synagogue recovering from an attack this year is only a half-hour drive from the “Wall of Tears” in downtown Dearborn memorializing children killed in Gaza.
asserted
synagogue → recover → Gaza
The race has even divided close friends like Lori Goldman and Mimi Price-Miletic.
Goldman, a Jewish Democratic activist, described Rogers’ message as “a fear campaign.”
“It’s spreading and it’s not spreading slowly,” she said.
asserted
she → divide → campaign
“It’s spreading insidiously and widely and effectively.”
asserted
It → spread → ?
Price-Miletic, a member of the Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus, sees things differently.
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Miletic → see → things
She is not supporting El-Sayed and has not ruled out voting for Rogers.
asserted
She → support → Rogers
“Lori Goldman is my best friend,” said Price-Miletic.
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Miletic → say → ?
“This summer I said we cannot discuss Abdul.
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we → say → Abdul
I don’t want to hear his name.
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I → want → name
We’ve agreed to disagree and we don’t talk about it.”
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we → agree → it
“She adores him,” she added.
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she → adore → him
“And I feel the exact opposite of her.”
asserted
I → feel → her
Republicans look to win over Jewish voters
Central to Rogers’ strategy has been winning over Jewish voters after the fierce Democratic primary between El-Sayed and U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens in which Israel became a focal point.
Stevens, one of Israel’s staunchest supporters in Congress, benefited from roughly $30 million in spending by groups affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC.
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Stevens → look → Committee
Stevens represents much of Oakland County, just north of Detroit and home to a significant portion of Michigan’s Jewish population.
asserted
Stevens → represent → population
Rogers has focused heavily on the area and is holding an event later in October with U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, that’s billed as “Who Will Keep Us Safe?
asserted
Who → focus → Us
Vance Patrick, chair of the Oakland County Republican Party, said Rogers was “definitely making some headway” among Jewish voters and that the community is “listening to the Republican Party this time.”
asserted
community → say → Party
Patrick added that Rogers has visited synagogues across the county, including Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, where a man rammed a truck loaded with fireworks and gasoline into the building and exchanged gunfire with a security guard in March.
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man → add → March
The attacker, a naturalized citizen originally from Lebanon who lived in Dearborn Heights, had recently lost family members in an Israeli airstrike in his native country.
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who → live → country
El-Sayed condemned the Temple Israel attack but drew criticism for saying “hurt people hurt people.”
asserted
people → condemn → people
He later apologized by saying “to anyone who feels like my comments might have been hurtful, I’m really sorry.”
uncertain
I → apologize → anyone
Rogers and his allies have repeatedly invoked those comments, with Rogers claiming El-Sayed “can’t condemn terrorism in our own country because he’s so close to the people who are supporting the Muslim Brotherhood.”
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who → invoke → Brotherhood
Trump went further Wednesday, claiming El-Sayed was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.
asserted
Sayed → go → Brotherhood
There is no evidence that El-Sayed has any affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood.
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Sayed → be → Brotherhood
His half-sister, Eman Abdelhadi, wrote on social media in 2012 that “my family has long been MB” and described a conversation with her mother about involvement in the Muslim Brotherhood in the early 1970s.
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family → write → 1970s
El-Sayed, who was born in Michigan to Egyptian immigrant parents and was raised by his father, told NBC this week the social media posts are “hearsay.”
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posts → bear → NBC
The Trump administration designated the Egyptian, Jordanian and Lebanese branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations earlier this year.
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administration → designate → organizations
Democrats face divisions over El-Sayed’s candidacy
Democrats are still struggling to unite behind El-Sayed after the primary exposed deep disagreements over Israel.
asserted
primary → face → Israel
Once a Republican stronghold, it has shifted steadily toward Democrats over the past two decades.
asserted
it → shift → decades
But many of the country’s top Democrats have kept an arm’s length from El-Sayed.
asserted
many → keep → Sayed
State Sen. Jeremy Moss, who is Jewish and is running for a U.S. House seat encompassing much of Oakland County, has not endorsed El-Sayed.
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who → run → Sayed
Stevens has endorsed El-Sayed, but has not campaigned with him.
asserted
Stevens → endorse → him
Price-Miletic, who supported Stevens in the primary, said part of the reason she will not vote for El-Sayed is his past appearances with controversial streamer Hasan Piker, who has made comments described as antisemitic.
asserted
who → support → comments
Goldman, the founder of grassroots organization Fems for Dems, said she believes much of the rhetoric spread about El-Sayed is not true and that Republicans “are preying upon the fears that are engendered in every Jewish person because past is prologue.”
asserted
past → say → person
Surrogates for El-Sayed, including local leaders and high-profile Democratic officials, have been holding house party events throughout the state to talk with undecided Jewish voters.
asserted
Surrogates → include → voters
…and 18 more, not listed.
The Aporia
