Democratic senators from across the ideological spectrum huddled on Capitol Hill on Wednesday with Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the progressive Senate nominee in Michigan and vocal critic of Israel, and said they were ready to put aside differences to win the majority in November.
More than a dozen Democrats flocked to the party’s political headquarters across from the Capitol to meet with Dr. El-Sayed and emerged sounding upbeat about a candidate who had not been the first choice of party leaders to defend the critical swing-state seat.
“He’s a great candidate,” Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, the chairwoman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said after meeting with Dr. El-Sayed. “We haven’t lost Michigan in 30 years. He’s energizing the base, and I’m optimistic.”
Dr. El-Sayed, the Michigan-born son of Egyptian immigrants, won an expensive and competitive primary in Michigan last month that put on display deep divides within the Democratic Party. His past criticism of Israel — he has said he opposes Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state — have continued to be a concern for Jewish Democratic voters in Michigan. Republicans are working to leverage that rift to boost his Republican opponent, former Representative Mike Rogers, in the general election.
The message from Democrats on Wednesday, however, was one of unity.
Senator Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, said that “Abdul is going to be able to cross over and get conservative, traditionally Republican support in Michigan. He’s more of a bridge-builder here than people think he will be. I’m all in.”
Senator Andy Kim, Democrat of New Jersey, who also met with Dr. El-Sayed, said that they connected as “dads just trying to make a better world for our little kids. We both know we’ve got a small window to make things right for them.”
And Senator Mark Kelly, Democrat of Arizona, emerged from the meeting saying that he planned to campaign in Michigan in the coming weeks.
Dr. El-Sayed also said he planned to meet with Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, whom he has said he would not back as leader if he were to win in November. Mr. Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in the country, often tells people his last name comes from the word “shomer,” meaning the guardian of Israel.
But Mr. Schumer reached out to Dr. El-Sayed following his victory and said he came away from the conversation believing “we have more that unites us than divides us.”
Dr. El-Sayed told reporters on Wednesday that he anticipated a “productive meeting” with the leader in which they would focus on areas of common ground.
“If Elon Musk or Donald Trump are out here trying to spend yet more money, I’m certainly hoping for future colleagues to support us,” Dr. El-Sayed said of the goal of his visit to Washington. “We need solidarity.”
He said Michigan voters were not concerned with his ties to Hasan Piker, the Twitch and YouTube star whose statements about Israel have alarmed Democrats.
“They really don’t care about that,” Dr. El-Sayed said. “Nobody asks me that question.”
His meetings with Democrats came a day after Vice President JD Vance encouraged Republicans on Capitol Hill to talk about Dr. El-Sayed, regardless of who they were running against, according to CNN.
Mr. Vance told House Republicans in a closed-door meeting that if they happened to be running against a Democrat who was “not that crazy, then just talk about Abdul El-Sayed.”
Dr. El-Sayed said he was unfazed by the attempt to turn him into a boogeyman of the far left.
“Fine, talk about me,” he said in response to the vice president. “You know what I’m going to talk about? Gas, groceries, how hard it is to see a doctor.”
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