El-Sayed Unites Democrats as GOP is Split Over Awful Candidates

The victory of Abdul El-Sayed for US Senate in the Michigan primary is uniting Democrats – despite what editorial pundits claim. Meanwhile, the GOP is splintering over deplorable candidates in Texas, Ohio, Michigan and Arizona.

Scientist Dr. El-Sayed – who is not a Democratic socialist – won support of young, urban and suburban voters to overcome massive odds against him. The first-time candidate defeated a 7-year incumbent Democratic Congress member. He was outspent 11 to 1 in the August 4 primary, but 500,000 more Democrats voted than did Republicans.

Many Democrats immediately endorsed him: his primary opponent, Haley Stevens; state Senator Mallory McMorrow; Governor Gretchen Whitmer; and even Chuck Schumer, the Minority Leader of the US Senate.

Democratic Senate candidates nationwide have raised far more money than their Republican rivals. This trend bodes well for Arizona Democrats like Governor Katie Hobbs, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, Attorney General Kris Mayes, and candidate Dr. Terry Ruiz for Arizona State School Superintendent.

These Arizona Dems are running against unpopular MAGA thugs, just as El-Sayed is.

Beating MAGA Thugs

El-Sayed’s opponent for US Senate is stone-age Republican ex-Congressman Michael J. Rogers, who is anti-abortion, anti-Medicare, anti-union, pro-NRA gun rights, and Trump-endorsed.

Elsewhere in Flint, Michigan, a Trump endorsement was no help to Amir Hassan, a Republican candidate for US House. He lost by 17 percentage points to an opponent who withdrew from the race, raised no money and stopped campaigning. It was a spectacular Trump failure.

“Democrats are really just on the same ideological scale. They believe the same things,” said political expert Taegan Goddard on his Trial Balloon podcast. “They believe in government trying to help people. They may have some different ideas and some different shades of how they want to do that. But the reality is they’re all generally pushing in the same direction.”

El-Sayed made an impressive debut on Meet The Press yesterday. He said, “Donald Trump has been an existential threat to our democracy. He is costing us jobs. He is costing us more at almost every aspect of our lives, whether it’s our gas, our groceries, or our healthcare.”

“I’m a scientist, and I believe in good, thoughtful, evidence-based solutions to problems,” he said. His platform appeals to many Democrats in 2026, including:

Medicare for All. El-Sayed will break up the monopoly that health insurance corporations, big hospital chains and the pharmaceutical industry have over healthcare. He said the health oligopoly causes the median family of four to pay a $4,500 healthcare deductible.

El-Sayed said universal healthcare can be paid for by canceling health insurance premiums and instead paying it into current FICA Medicare taxes.

An Economist/YouGov poll found 59 percent of Americans support the idea of Medicare for All.

“Instead of paying a health insurance company whose CEO makes $20 million, I would much rather pay for durable healthcare into a government, which we all know provides healthcare for seniors who need healthcare the most.”

“So if I’m trading paying a CEO to make more money or paying a government to guarantee me healthcare, I’m picking the latter every time,” he said.

Stop subsidizing foreign governments’ military.” I want our tax dollars spent to provide good schools, to pay for healthcare, to rebuild our roads, rather than it being sent abroad to subsidize foreign militaries,” he said.

It is a fact that US tax dollars send $6 to 6.5 billion per year to the military in five countries: Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Israel. “These are things that we cannot subsidize because we have kids who need better schools and better roads and bridges, and better healthcare here in America,” Sayed said.

The notion of cutting Israel’s funding for missiles and its war in Gaza infuriated AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-war lobby. El-Sayed’s race drew record-breaking outside spending from AIPAC and corporate special interests, totaling nearly $70 million, outspending Abdul by 11:1. An average of $95 was spent for every vote against Abdul, more than 10 times as much as Abdul’s $9 per vote average.

Yet El-Sayed won. Importantly, he added:

“I love and revere Judaism and the Jewish people,” El-Sayed said. “I believe they’re a light unto the world. I grew up in a community that had a large Jewish population. I was so grateful to get to be invited to Seder and to Shul and to bar and bat mitzvahs. I’m really honored for what I learned and got to share with my Jewish sisters and brothers. But they are not the same as AIPAC and Israel.”

Dems outraise MAGA candidates nationwide.

According to the Cook Political Report, Democrats in US House races have raised more funds than 14 of 17 Republican incumbents this year.

Democratic fundraising is even more successful in several US Senate races involving MAGA thugs:

• Texas — Democratic nominee James Talarico raised more than $27 million in receipts during the first quarter and, by summer, had raised three times as much as corrupt, reviled Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton.

• Georgia — Sen. Jon Ossoff pulled in $14 million in the first quarter and by late July held 20 times the cash on hand of his Republican challenger, white supremacist Michael Collins.
• Ohio — Former Sen. Sherrod Brown posted a quarterly haul of $14.1 million in Q2, ending June with $16.2 million banked, well ahead of appointed Republican Sen. Jon Husted, who reported raising $4.1 million with $9.4 million banked. Husted opposes a congressional stock trading ban while actively trading stocks in office.
• Alaska — Democratic former Rep. Mary Peltola again outraised GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan, bringing in $6.9 million to his $2 million in Q2. Sullivan supports tariffs and the war in Iran.
• Montana and Nebraska — Independent candidates aligned with the Democratic Party raised more than Republican Senate incumbents in these deep-red states last quarter.

The facts show that there is no civil war in the Democratic Party. “This is like the Democratic civil war that didn’t happen, because the Democrats are all on board, and they’re moving all in the same direction, Goddard said on the Trial Balloon podcast. “The reality is that Democrats just want to win.”