USA

Who is Abdul El-Sayed, the progressive doctor who wants to change the Democratic Party?

El-Sayed has won the Democratic primary for the Senate in Michigan, establishing himself as one of the leading figures of the party’s progressive wing

by Silvia Martelli

5 August 2026

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Abdul El Sayed, candidato democratico del Michigan al Senato degli Stati Uniti

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

At the age of 41 Abdul El-Sayed has become one of the new faces of the American left. A doctor, public health expert, former Detroit city official and television commentator, the Democrat has won the Michigan Senate primary, establishing himself as the candidate of the party’s progressive wing.

His victory represents not only a personal success, but also a political statement: the Democratic base has rewarded a candidate who is openly critical of the Washington establishment and of the lobbies that traditionally wield influence within the party, including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which had backed her opponent, Haley Stevens.

Should he also win the November elections, El-Sayed would become the first Muslim senator in US history, a symbolic milestone set to have a significant impact on political representation in the United States.

Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1985, El-Sayed is the son of Egyptian immigrants. He grew up in a Muslim family and Arabic was his first language. He often says that his experiences as a child and teenager taught him what it means to feel like an outsider: following the 9/11 attacks, he was the target of anti-Arab insults and discrimination, incidents which he still cites today as one of the factors that have shaped his political outlook. In his campaign speeches, he frequently emphasises the idea that the United States is a country capable of offering enormous opportunities, but that all too often it fails to guarantee the same opportunities to all its citizens.

Before entering electoral politics, he built his career in the public health sector. A doctor by training, he served as Director of the City of Detroit’s Department of Health, focusing on health inequalities, prevention and access to healthcare. That administrative experience has become one of the cornerstones of his political narrative: El-Sayed likes to present himself as a specialist who has turned to politics, capable of tackling concrete problems rather than limiting himself to slogans. Over the years, he has also worked as a commentator for CNN and hosted a podcast, developing remarkable communication skills that many consider to be one of his main strengths.

His debut on the national political scene dates back to 2018, when he stood as a candidate for the office of Governor of Michigan. Even then, he represented the progressive wing of the Democratic Party and received the support of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, but was defeated by Gretchen Whitmer, a moderate who would go on to win the governorship. Reflecting on that experience, El-Sayed stated that his message had come too soon: in his view, even back then he was arguing that Donald Trump’s election was not a historical accident, but a symptom of a political system perceived as skewed in favour of the elite. Today, he believes that view has become much more widely shared among Democratic voters, who are increasingly drawn to candidates willing to openly challenge the status quo.

El-Sayed is one of the most recognisable figures on the democratic left. He advocates a universal healthcare system, the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a fundamental overhaul of immigration policies and an end to US military aid to Israel. He is also one of the most outspoken critics of AIPAC, an organisation considered to be among the most influential in US foreign policy. These positions have secured him strong support amongst progressive voters, particularly amongst young people and those who have challenged the Biden administration’s stance on the war in Gaza. His main political backers include Bernie Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez, who has personally invested in his campaign, believing him to be the candidate best placed to mobilise the Democratic base. At the same time, El-Sayed has sought to distance himself from the label of ‘socialist’, describing himself instead as a capitalist who is convinced of the need for a regulated market and a state that plays a greater role in safeguarding social rights.

His communication skills are often cited as one of the reasons for his success. Both opponents and allies acknowledge his oratorical talent, although they accuse him of frequently resorting to personal attacks. During the primaries, he described MP Haley Stevens as a candidate lacking a genuine political identity and labelled her “the least capable candidate in America”, thereby contributing significantly to raising the level of internal conflict within the Democratic Party. Stevens herself dismissed him as a “celebrity candidate”, an accusation that El-Sayed rejected by pointing to his years of service in the public administration of Detroit and Wayne County.

There was no shortage of controversy. During the election campaign, he appeared on several occasions alongside the streamer Hasan Piker, one of the most popular figures on the American online left and among the harshest critics of the Israeli government. Some Jewish organisations and several Democratic figures have accused Piker of anti-Semitism, allegations which he denies. El-Sayed has defended the collaboration, arguing that the Democrats cannot ignore the audience reached by these new digital communicators and that the party should learn the lesson of the so-called ‘cancel culture wars’ by opening up to voices other than the traditional ones.

His victory in the Michigan primaries marks the high point of his political career and propels him onto the national stage as one of the leaders of the new progressive generation. For El-Sayed, the decisive test will come in the November elections, when he will have to prove that a strongly progressive programme can also win over the moderate electorate of one of the most hotly contested states in the US.