The Senate Leadership Fund, a GOP super PAC, is targeting progressive Michigan Senate candidate Abdul el Sayed with a six-figure ad campaign calling the Democratic candidate “dangerously radical,” as Republican leadership seeks to flip Michigan’s open Senate seat red.
El Sayed, a former public health official, clinched the Democratic nomination in Michigan on Wednesday morning, defeating establishment-backed Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) by a slim margin. Endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), el Sayed will now face off against former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers in the November general election.
The Senate Leadership Fund is already raring to go in its mission to elect Rogers to the open seat left vacant by retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), kicking off its general election advertising campaign using clips from el Sayed’s campaign stops in which he referred to himself as “dangerous,” though he was referring to the threat he poses to corporate interests and wealthy power brokers as a progressive politician.
“Abdul el Sayed, in his own words: ‘They’ve taken to calling me dangerous,’ ‘Do police really need to use guns? ‘Do we need as much of a police force?’ ‘I’m dangerous!’,” the SLF said in its advertisement, titled “Abdul El-Sayed: Dangerously Radical”
SLF Executive Director Alex Latcham emphasized this message in a statement on Wednesday, pointing to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) effective endorsement of Stevens in the Democratic primary.
“From calling to disarm the police to his close ties to extremist figures, Abdul El-Sayed is uniquely dangerous and unqualified, which is why Chuck Schumer spent over $60 million in a failed effort to prevent Abdul from serving in the U.S. Senate,” Latcham said. “From now until Election Day, SLF will do everything within its power to support Mike Rogers and stop Abdul from endangering Michigan families.”
El Sayed spoke to claims that he is “dangerous” at a campaign event several weeks ago, saying, “I wonder why you would call somebody from my background, with my faith, dangerous?” El Sayed, a son of Egyptian immigrants, is Muslim and has been vocal about his faith in fighting against what he describes as Islamophobia in the U.S.
“Ask the folks who got a medical debt relief check if I’m dangerous,” el Sayed said. “I’m not dangerous if you need government to work for you. But I tell you what, I sure am dangerous if you’re one of those folks who’s a corporation or a special interest or a politician who does their bidding who’s stopping government from working for you. So, yeah, if you’re Chuck Schumer, I’m dangerous. If you’re AIPAC, I’m dangerous.”
ABDUL EL SAYED GOES AFTER MIKE ROGERS, ISRAEL, AND ICE
The Washington Examiner has reached out to el Sayed’s campaign for comment.
The Senate Leadership Fund also announced on Wednesday it would pour over $45 million into Rogers’s campaign against el Sayed.