Abdul El‑Sayed pushes cost‑of‑living agenda in Michigan Senate race

Abdul El‑Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Michigan’s Senate seat, highlighted a cost‑of‑living platform in a Sunday interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker. He said he would focus on gas prices, grocery costs, and healthcare access, and that his opponent, Republican Mike Rogers, has no counter‑argument beyond pointing to El‑Sayed’s name and faith.

El‑Sayed also criticized the Trump administration’s foreign‑policy tariffs, citing a National Taxpayers Union Foundation study that estimates Michigan households have paid an extra $5,600 for a tariff war with Canada and $1,600 for an Iran war since January 2025. He said the tariffs are hurting Michigan’s economy and that he will work to reduce them.

The race is one of the most closely watched contests of the November midterm elections, with El‑Sayed leading Rogers by four percentage points according to MSNOW’s poll tracker. Rogers and El‑Sayed faced off in a televised debate on Thursday, where Rogers questioned El‑Sayed’s opposition to AI‑powered surveillance cameras and El‑Sayed called Rogers a “sock puppet” for the Trump administration. Bridge Michigan fact‑checked Rogers’ claim that El‑Sayed’s funders belong to a Muslim Brotherhood group, finding no evidence of such ties.

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