Two prominent figures in Michigan’s Democratic Party have issued a strong warning against Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, stating they will not vote for him and urging fellow Democrats to avoid his candidacy.
Lon Johnson, former chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, and David Kramer, a longtime Democratic strategist who worked on Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s gubernatorial campaign and Senator Elissa Slotkin’s Senate campaign, have written that El-Sayed has failed to earn the trust of “loyal Democrats,” assuage their fears, and unite a party whose nomination he won with less than 50% of the vote.
The duo stated they will not vote for El-Sayed, saying that “some may then conclude we, or other loyal Democrats, need to vote for a different party, but for many of us, leaving the ballot blank is an act of dignity.” They also highlighted their “gravest concerns” regarding El-Sayed’s associations with figures who have excused or minimized terrorism, his reluctance to unequivocally condemn dangerous rhetoric, and his support for extreme policies.
