Attacks on faith and family

Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed, a doctor and former public health official who has never held elected office, is running against Republican Mike Rogers, a former representative, for Michigan's open Senate seat. If he wins on 3 November he would become the first Muslim senator in US history. Rogers invoked El-Sayed's mother during their first debate, trying to draw a connection between her and Al Qaeda. President Donald Trump has mocked the pronunciation of El-Sayed's name and started calling him by his middle name, Mohamed. Republican ads have suggested ties to terrorist groups or the Muslim Brotherhood, and questions about his mother, a half sister and their past comments now dominate the closing days of a contest that may decide who controls the Senate.

El-Sayed has answered forcefully. During a town hall over the weekend of 17 and 18 October, a man asked him to disavow the Muslim Brotherhood, and the nearly five-minute exchange has been viewed more than 50 million times. In a short, testy exchange with a Newsmax reporter that same week, he said "I clearly disavow" the movement. In a new video he says he prays daily and describes himself as a "man of faith". At a speech in Cadillac, Michigan, earlier this month, he framed his name as a question of local history:

“I've been a guy named Abdul Mohamed El-Sayed in Michigan almost my entire life.”

The 2012 letter and Brotherhood claims

The attacks partly rest on a 2012 open letter that El-Sayed signed while he was in medical school. The letter urged Mohamed Morsi, then Egypt's newly elected president from a party that spoke for the Muslim Brotherhood's political wing, to clear backers of the toppled regime out of the news media and the police. El-Sayed's campaign has denied any connection to the Brotherhood, and he has dismissed the claims as one more wave of Islamophobic attacks.

Pro-Israel lobby money

AIPAC, which has almost never backed a Republican in a competitive general election, has begun contributing to a pro-Rogers super PAC and plans to give as much as $9 million, according to two people with knowledge of the plans who spoke on condition of anonymity. The money went to the Great Lakes Conservatives Fund, which focuses only on Rogers, and arrived after a 14 October deadline that would have required disclosure before Election Day. The group had spent heavily against El-Sayed in the Democratic primary. At an 8 October debate, Rogers said he would "take all of that help" when asked about outside support. The super PAC later disclosed a $4.6 million media buy in Michigan, and several of its new spots target El-Sayed's Muslim background. AIPAC declined to comment.

Stakes and style

El-Sayed has positioned himself at the front of Democrats moving away from support for Israel, arguing that the longtime US ally should not define itself as an explicitly Jewish state and calling for an end to American military support. Jon Hanson, a political scientist at the University of Michigan, described the arithmetic of the race:

“If you end up losing Michigan, you have to win five of the swing races. And that's a really tall order.”

Democrats need a net gain of four seats to flip the 100-seat chamber. El-Sayed won the August nomination by beating big-spending rivals, including Haley Stevens, who was backed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Senator Gary Peters. His combative style has earned him the nickname 'Mean Mamdani', a comparison with New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Final weeks

Speaking at the Shrine of the Black Madonna, an African-American church in Detroit, El-Sayed argued that his name was not the cause of voters' economic problems:

“My name is not the reason you're paying more for your gas, my name is not the reason you can't afford your groceries.”

He blamed the problems on "their policies". A second and final televised debate with Rogers is still ahead, and the election takes place on 3 November.