Abdul el Sayed, a progressive candidate in the Senate race for Michigan, said he will speak with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) if he wins the Democratic primary next month.
Schumer supports Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), a comparatively centrist candidate compared to el Sayed. The two contenders are running to succeed retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), who likewise supports Stevens.
In a new interview on Politico podcast The Conversation, el Sayed said he has not directly spoken with Schumer yet but confirmed they will “have a conversation after I win this primary.” The remark highlights the candidate’s confidence in his own chances at winning the Aug. 4 primary election.
Politico reporter Dasha Burns commented on the fact that her podcast guest’s “candidacy has clearly … freaked out the establishment.” On that point, el Sayed told Burns, “Chuck Schumer hates it for sure.” He went on to explain that Schumer opposes his campaign because the Senate leader represents the elite class of the Democratic Party.
“If you’re Chuck Schumer and your whole approach is that you get to go talk to the money people and then dole out their corporate money to help elect the people who are going to do the things that corporations want, yeah, I’m a threat to your system,” el Sayed said.
“So of course, they’re freaking out,” he added. “They’re not freaking out because they think I’m going to lose. They’re freaking out because they think I’m going to win.”
Seeking to distinguish himself from his primary opponent, the former public health official has repeatedly railed against the influence of outside spending and corporate interests in the race. He pointed to the $50 million sum that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and other major donors have spent in support of Stevens.
“I think we might have set a record for the amount of outside spending set against one candidate in a primary,” he said, “but that tells you how desperate they really are to continue to have a chokehold on our politics.”
Differentiating himself from other Democrats who “play defense” in politics, el Sayed said he goes “on the attack” instead.
El Sayed and Stevens are the two Democratic candidates left after Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow bowed out of the race this month. Whoever wins the Democratic primary will go on to face presumptive Republican nominee Mike Rogers in November.
ABDUL EL SAYED VOWS TO TAKE ON SCHUMER AS LEFT-WING CANDIDATES GAIN MOMENTUM
Following the Michigan Senate debate on July 7, el Sayed held a significant lead over Stevens in a poll conducted by the Grand Rapids television station that hosted the forum. Over a week later, the latest polling numbers tell a different story.
Stevens now holds a 7-point lead among likely Democratic primary voters, according to a new Detroit News-WDIV-TV poll. A separate survey by Tavern Research showed Stevens ahead by just 1 point in a head-to-head match with el Sayed. With McMorrow still listed on the primary ballot, el Sayed was ahead by 3 points.