Obama to rally with Abdul El-Sayed, Jocelyn Benson in Detroit

Former President Barack Obama will campaign in Michigan with Jocelyn Benson and Abdul El-Sayed Oct. 24
The candidates will rally with Obama in Detroit, where El-Sayed struggled in the Democratic primary
The visit is part of Obama’s nationwide push to boost Democrats in the midterms

Former President Barack Obama will stump for Democratic candidates in Michigan on Oct. 24, the first day of statewide early in-person voting, the state party announced Monday.

US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and gubernatorial nominee Jocelyn Benson are expected to join Obama at an event in Detroit, according to a release. Additional details have not yet been released.

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There had been some question whether Obama would support El-Sayed, an outspoken progressive who has criticized the Affordable Care Act, one of Obama’s signature achievements, as an “incremental” policy.

Obama and El-Sayed spoke in August and reportedly discussed the importance of unifying Michigan Democrats after El-Sayed’s bitter primary against US Rep. Haley Stevens.

El-Sayed is now locked in a tight general election battle with Republican Mike Rogers as both major parties compete for control of congress in the final two years of President Donald Trump’s term.

The appearance is part of a nationwide push from Obama to support Democrats. The Associated Press reported Obama taped ads last week in support of at least two dozen candidates for governor and US Senate.

The former president has appeared in Michigan ahead of every federal election since he left office, including to support Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in both her campaigns for governor in 2018 and 2022.

He last campaigned in the state in 2024, when he rallied for presidential nominee Kamala Harris in Detroit.

Most polling shows a tight race between El-Sayed and Rogers, with El-Sayed ahead by only a few percentage points in aggregations provided by RealClearPolitics and Nate Silver.

El-Sayed performed particularly poorly with Black voters in Detroit in the Democratic primary, winning just 31% of the vote against Stevens. Obama’s appearance in Detroit may represent an effort to boost turnout from the majority-Black city, which remains a crucial voting bloc for Democrats.

The visit will coincide with the state of a mandatory early-in person voting in Michigan. Some clerks choose to offer additional days but must begin by giving voters that option by Oct. 24.

While some areas of Michigan only offer one early voting site per county, Detroit offered eight within the city’s 139 square miles in the last election and the voting method has proved relatively popular.

Recent surveys suggest Benson is considerably further ahead against her Republican opponent, US Rep. John James, with a margin of about 8 to 9 percentage points in leading poll aggregations.

There are debates scheduled this week in both races, with Benson and James facing off Oct. 6 and El-Sayed and Rogers meeting Oct. 8. Both will be held at WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids.