Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, who won a divisive Democratic Senate primary this week in the crucial swing state of Michigan with an unabashedly progressive message, has been flooded with calls from leaders of the party establishment he challenged during his campaign.
He spoke with Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic minority leader who had privately opposed him in the primary, about “taking back the Senate and taking on Trump,” Dr. El-Sayed recalled. He had more than one conversation with Representative Haley Stevens after he narrowly defeated her in the primary.
He also compared notes about campaigning in Michigan with former Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost the state in 2024. And he chatted with both Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois, a billionaire, and Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York, a democratic socialist.
In an interview at a coffee shop in Ann Arbor on Thursday, Dr. El-Sayed spoke about his victory, the way progressive candidates resonated with young voters and some of the regrets he had about the bruising primary.
Asked about the possibility of becoming the first Muslim senator if he beats the Republican nominee, Mike Rogers, Dr. El-Sayed said, “I’m just interested in being the next U.S. senator from Michigan.”
He argued that Mr. Rogers was “corrupt” and had no “vision” for the country. (A spokeswoman for Mr. Rogers, Alyssa Brouillet, responded in a statement saying that Mr. Rogers had spent his life “serving Michigan” and “exposing frauds like Abdul El-Sayed.”)
And Dr. El-Sayed addressed Jewish Michigan residents who expressed strong concerns about his vocal criticism of Israel, saying he was eager to speak to Jewish communities across the state about how “they’re feeling right now.”
He declined to say whether he would continue to campaign with Hasan Piker, a provocative streamer and critic of Israel whose appearances with him on the campaign trail became a flashpoint. “Look, I’m just a lot more focused on who I’m campaigning to,” he said.
But he appeared eager to set his sights on President Trump, who is unpopular and whom Democrats across the country hope to make the focus of the general election three months away. Mr. Trump has falsely described him and other Democratic candidates as communists.
Dr. El-Sayed said that the president had inherited his wealth and shown that he knew “nothing” about capitalism. He added that he would relish a chance to debate Mr. Trump.
“My hair is real,” he said, adding, “And my hands are way bigger than his.”
Below are excerpts from the interview, which have been condensed and edited for clarity.
Who have you heard from since you won? Anyone that surprised you?
My mom.
I hope that didn’t surprise you.
Nope.
What was your conversation like when Congresswoman Stevens called you?
We had a good, warm conversation. Obviously we had a hard-fought campaign. And I think we were able to define our differences. But they’re far smaller than our similarities.
Was there anything that made your campaign unusual, tactically?
Coherence. I want to make sure that when somebody touches our campaign — in any way they touch us — that our message is clear, it’s concise and it’s consistent. Even if you’re volunteering and you’re knocking on our door, the message you’re hearing is about: “Money out of politics, money in your pocket, Medicare for all” — and this is why it matters to me. And as much as people want to pretend or act like we had a personality-driven campaign, it wasn’t. It was driven by a message. I can walk into almost any room, and I can say: “Money out of?” and everybody’s like: “Politics.” “Money in your?” “Pocket.” “Medicare for?” “All.” People know what we’re about.
Can I ask you about young people? How have progressives from New York City to Ann Arbor succeeded in inspiring volunteerism —
I think, again, it goes back to integrity. Are you who you say you are?
What do you think is the key to getting them to come out? To live events? To volunteer?
I think they want to come out. I think they’re just not willing to come out for candidates and campaigns that don’t seem consistent or —
So it’s the message?
It’s about the message more than anything else. Everybody focuses on style. I don’t think style matters, man. Everyone’s like, “Oh you campaign like a young person.” No. I campaign like a millennial dad, because that’s what I am. Right? But I am consistent. I say the same thing to everybody regardless of where I go.
It was a bruising race, even down to the end. Do you have any regrets about how —
Anybody who lives any life and says, ‘I have no regrets,’ is lying to you. Obviously, there are things that in hindsight, you would have done differently. But hindsight’s 20/20.
Well, in hindsight, is there anything you can tell me: Oh, yeah, I wish I hadn’t said that?
At the end of the day, when you’re in the heat of a very intense primary, there are always going to be things that you wish you could take back. I wish there wasn’t $60 million of spending against us. I wish we could have just fully transacted the campaign on ideals and ideas. Obviously, I would have loved to just keep the focus on the contrast between what we were hoping to do and what our opponents were hoping to do. And if I could go back and do it again, I would have just kept it on those contrasts.
What’s your message to Black voters going into the midterms?
We have a clear opportunity to fight for the kind of America where all people, regardless of the color of their skin can thrive. That’s been the work that I’ve been committed to since I took the job as health director in 2015 in the City of Detroit. And I’m hoping to serve in the same way that I served in the City of Detroit and Wayne County to fight for communities that are too often neglected and forgotten. That is the work that I have been doing for a long time. So I’m looking forward to continuing to build that relationship. Just like I have for the better part of 10 years.
There are Jewish folks in Michigan who say they’re anxious about some of your comments. They’re anxious that they could make them less safe in Michigan. What’s your message to them?
My commitment to Jewish safety is the same as my commitment to the safety of my own daughters. Antisemitism is a scourge. And we need to address it in all its forms. And I’m looking forward to continuing to get around the state to listen to Jewish communities to understand how they’re feeling right now and to share what we hold in common, and what we have yet to fight for.
We’ve spoken about capitalism versus socialism.
Do you want to talk about capitalism? Let’s talk about capitalism. Are you recording? Capitalism is about leveraging the laws of supply and demand to efficiently allocate capital expenditure to maximize value. When capitalism works, it’s because you have free entry and exit into markets. So if you believe in capitalism, you have to believe in government regulation to protect markets. In fact, right now, we have exactly the opposite. You don’t have to be a socialist to believe that you should be taxing billionaires their wealth. In fact, if you are a capitalist, you should believe in that. So, I’m capitalist who just knows about capitalism. I have a bad habit of reading, I’m so sorry.
How do you think Democrats combat the president saying they are communists? That’s one of his core arguments —
The man is so clearly a joker, except for everybody’s afraid of him. I am not afraid of him. Right? I would be happy to debate him on anything, anywhere, anytime, on any issue, in any place.
If you beat Mike Rogers, you would be the first Muslim —
I’m just interested in being the next U.S. senator from Michigan.
Do you think it would be meaningful, though, for —
I think it’ll say something about who our country is. There are a lot of people like Mike Rogers and like Donald Trump and like JD Vance who want to define America as being far smaller than I know America is. Born and raised here, and yes, I have an uncommon name, which they’re going to point to a lot. And they want to make it seem like I am somehow less American because of my uncommon name. If anything, I know that America is big enough for people with names like mine. And I’ve seen it every single day. Americans are big-hearted and open-minded. They are asking less about how you pray than what you pray for.
What did Vice President Kamala Harris tell you?
She congratulated me on a race well run and compared notes about campaigning in Michigan. And I was grateful for her outreach. She shared a lot of perspectives on what she had learned, and we shared a good conversation about what it’ll take to win Michigan — keep Michigan in 2026 for Democrats for the Senate.
Zohran Mamdani was asked about you yesterday. He said you could probably bench a lot more than him —
He’s better at soccer than I am.
Can you give me one word to describe Mike Rogers?
Just one?
Just one. Maybe two if —
Corrupt. Self-serving.
How about Haley Stevens?
Team player.
Zohran Mandani.
New York.
Chuck Schumer.
One word?
Or two.
Pragmatic.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Inspiring.
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