The United Auto Workers Union endorsed Democrat Abdul el Sayed for Michigan’s battleground Senate seat on Friday, siding with the most progressive candidate in a competitive three-way primary contest.
The union praised the former local health official for having a “strong working-class agenda with moral clarity” that includes support for a Medicare-for-All single-payer healthcare system. UAW’s endorsement is coveted in Michigan, the nation’s epicenter for auto manufacturing.
El Sayed is facing Democratic opponents Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow in the Aug. 4 primary to take on presumptive Republican nominee former Rep. Mike Rogers. The candidates seek to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) in a toss-up race that could help determine the upper chamber’s balance of power.
“UAW members in Michigan want a fighter in Washington, D.C., who isn’t afraid to push forward a strong working-class agenda with moral clarity,” the member-elected board of the UAW’s Community Action Program said in a statement. “Having never taken a dime from corporate PACs, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed is someone we can trust to have our backs, including when we need it most — like come May Day 2028.”
The board added: “From Medicare for All to banning stock buybacks, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed is ready, eager, and well-equipped to move our core issues in the U.S. Senate.”
El Sayed said he was “honored and humbled” by the endorsement.
“Michigan union autoworkers built the American middle class and proved that when people stand together, there’s nothing we can’t accomplish,” he posted to social media. “Solidarity forever.”
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The endorsement comes as el Sayed’s support has surged among Democratic voters in Michigan over the past several months, allowing him to lap his opponents by double digits in a recent survey. However, his rise has drawn fears from establishment-aligned figures that his far-left stances could hurt their general election chances.
Trump-backed Rogers maintains a polling advantage over all three Democrats but remains within the margins of error in recent surveys, presenting a statistical dead heat for the battleground seat.
