Former Wayne County Health Director Dr. Abdul El-Sayed on Tuesday became the third Michigan Democrat to submit nominating petition signatures in a campaign for U.S. Senate.
El-Sayed is part of what’s largely a three-way primary battle between himself, Congresswoman Haley Stevens (D-MI 11), and state Senator Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak) for the Democratic Senate nomination.
He’s running with the endorsement of Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and has taken more progressive stances, like supporting Medicare for All and restrictions on corporate political giving.
El-Sayed said he’s more focused on speaking to people’s frustrations with government than political labels.
“You have people who have been locked out of our system, and you have the people who are doing the locking out and, right now, Michiganders are desperate for somebody who's willing to take on the people with the keys,” El-Sayed told reporters after dropping his signatures off with the state Bureau of Elections Tuesday.
While Michigan Democrats are in a competitive primary race, the Republican side has a frontrunner in former Congressman Mike Rogers.
El-Sayed, who also ran for governor in 2018, said Michiganders want someone who can address what he describes as a “disease” coming from insider politics.
“The disease has just gotten worse. Times have gotten more dire. The ability to buy a bag of groceries or to see a doctor, that's gotten further away for too many people. And that change means that we are sick and tired of politics as old,” he said when asked why he would be the best one to face Rogers in November.
Like his Democratic opponents, El-Sayed’s campaign said he collected 30,000 signatures, although he said his campaign was turning in a little under that amount since going over could invalidate the whole count.
El-Sayed said all of his signatures were collected either by volunteers or full-time staff. McMorrow made a similar point Monday while dropping off her signatures with the Bureau of Elections in Lansing.
