Michigan Jewish Democrats distance themselves from El-Sayed at the polls

Audio By Carbonatix

(The Center Square) – As polls close in Michigan, new polling suggests Democrat U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed struggled to secure support among Jewish Democrats.

The poll was conducted Oct. 25-31 among 482 Michigan Jewish early voters on behalf of The Jewish Majority, a Washington, D.C.-based, nonpartisan research and advocacy organization.

It found that El-Sayed significantly underperformed fellow Democrat Jocelyn Benson among Jewish early voters, receiving just 57% of the vote compared with 78% for Benson.

"While El-Sayed receives a majority of support from Jewish voters casting early ballots, critically, El-Sayed faces significant challenges and substantially underperforms his Democratic counterparts as well as the Democratic enrollment share of this cohort," the poll found. "This underperformance is credited with El-Sayed’s positions regarding Israel, concerns about antisemitism, and his comments and actions regarding the Jewish community."

Critically, among self-identified Jewish Democrats who did not vote for El-Sayed, 99% said they likely would have supported a different Democratic nominee.

"Nearly every Jewish Democrat who rejected Abdul El-Sayed said they would have voted for a different Democratic nominee. That tells us something important: these voters haven't given up on the Democratic Party, but they rejected this candidate because they have serious concerns about whether their voices are being heard," said Jonathan Schulman, executive director of The Jewish Majority. "Jewish voters want to remain part of the big Democratic tent, but they expect their concerns about rising antisemitism, Israel and the treatment of their community to be taken seriously."

This comes as antisemitism was a key issue in Michigan’s U.S. Senate race, as progressive El-Sayed faced off against Republican Mike Rogers.

The Nonnegotiable Michigan coalition, made up of Jewish clergy and community leaders, had pressed El-Sayed to affirm Jewish identity, safety and support for Israel.

Over the weekend, it announced a write-in campaign for the race, encouraging Jewish voters to not support El-Sayed after he ignored their requests.

The race is considered one of the most-important U.S. Senate races in the nation as the party-makeup of the 120th Congress hangs in the balance. Polls in most of Michigan closed at 8 p.m. EST.