The Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, is “the most antisemitic U.S. Senate candidate in America,” according to the Republican Jewish Coalition. Still, 57% of Jewish early voters in the state voted for him, according to a survey that the Jewish Majority commissioned.
The survey, of 482 Jews in Michigan, 75% of whom are or lean Democratic, was conducted between Oct. 25 and 31, before Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), who lost the primary to El-Sayed, endorsed former Republican congressman Mike Rogers.
The 57% of Jewish early voters who went for El-Sayed was well below the 78% that voted for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jocelyn Benson, according to the survey, which said that El-Sayed “underperforms his Democratic counterparts.”
Some 87% of self-identified Democrats, who voted against El-Sayed or left the Senate race blank, said that they were motivated by his comment, after the terror attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Mich., that “hurt people hurt people.”
“Of respondents who recalled voting for Elissa Slotkin for Senate in 2024, 33% did
not vote for Abdul El-Sayed in 2026, 23% voted for Mike Rogers, 3% for another
candidate and 7% left the Senate race blank,” the survey found.
Nearly all, 99%, of self-identified Democrats who did not vote for El-Sayed said that they would have been very or somewhat likely to support a different Democratic nominee, and 88% said they would have been very likely to do so.
“This underperformance is credited with El-Sayed’s positions regarding Israel, concerns about antisemitism and his comments and actions regarding the Jewish community,” the survey stated.
“Jewish voters want to remain part of the big Democratic tent, but they expect their concerns about rising antisemitism, Israel and the treatment of their community to be taken seriously,” stated Jonathan Schulman, executive director of the Jewish Majority.
“Many are increasingly anxious about whether there’s still room for them in that coalition,” he stated.
Rogers, the GOP nominee, got 36% of the vote, according to the survey, and 4% opted for other candidates. Among those who voted for both Rogers and Benson, 90% “stated concerns about antisemitism as one of the most important factors regarding their vote,” per the survey.
Respondents who voted for Rogers were asked if their vote was “mainly a vote in support of Rogers, mainly a vote against Abdul El-Sayed or both equally?”
Some 61% said that their votes for Rogers were “mainly against El-Sayed.”
The survey also asked self-identified Democrats, who voted for Rogers, if they would consider voting for the Republican presidential nominee in 2028 “if you disagreed with the Democratic nominee regarding their positions on Israel or antisemitism.”
Among that subgroup, 58 respondents, 48% said “probably yes” and 37% said “definitely yes.”
“These numbers should be a warning sign for Democratic leaders that their support cannot simply be taken for granted,” Schulman stated.
The survey was “weighted by gender, age, geography, education and recalled 2024 vote,” with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points for the full sample and greater uncertainty for subgroups.
