Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s spring 2020 book “Healing Politics” advocated for federalizing the election system, decriminalizing border crossings and instituting reparations, among other significant policy changes.
The book detailed El-Sayed’s life and his early ventures into politics. But it also included a chapter on 13 ideas for helping the country. Among them were plans he’s discussed regularly on the Senate campaign trail, like providing health care coverage for everyone.
The list also featured some ideas that might have been problematic in a Democratic primary if U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, whom El-Sayed defeated on Aug. 4, or her supporters had highlighted them.
In the book, El-Sayed of Ann Arbor specifically promoted the idea of federalizing elections — something Democrats have been criticizing Republican President Donald Trump for floating. El-Sayed argued the election system that’s currently run by state and local officials “creates huge variations in election law and election administration.”
“Federalizing the system would standardize it,” El-Sayed wrote, months before Trump’s backers attempted to overturn the battleground states’ results for the November 2020 election, including his 154,000-vote loss to Democrat Joe Biden in Michigan.
In February, Michigan’s Democratic secretary of state and candidate for governor Jocelyn Benson pushed back on Trump talking about getting the federal government involved in running elections.
“Elections are run by the states,” Benson said in February. “We do it very well with integrity, securely and effectively, time and time again, and we invite everyone to look at the transparent evidence that reinforces that fact.”
On reparations, El-Sayed wrote that America “is long overdue in paying the damages for its original sins.
“We need a policy of reparations for Black and Native Americans,” El-Sayed wrote. “And although it won’t ever make it right, it may make a difference.”
Reparation policies could include direct investments in majority Black school districts or “unconditional cash transfers,” El-Sayed wrote. He also contended that border crossings should be decriminalized and downgraded from a criminal infraction to a civil one.
Asked about the passages, Roxie Richner, El-Sayed’s spokeswoman, said the book was written in 2020 and El-Sayed’s opinions had evolved since then, “particularly due to the implications the Jan. 6th attack had on the role the federal government should play in our elections.”
“Abdul has been clear that he supports securing the border, ensuring that internal immigration enforcement operates under the bounds of the Constitution and creating a clear pathway to citizenship for those living in legal limbo,” Richner said.
However, Alyssa Brouillet, communications director for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers, accused El-Sayed of speaking out of both sides of his mouth.
“Either this guy doesn’t know what he stands for, or his positions are so extreme that he has to run them back.” Brouillet said. “Which is it, Abdul?”
Final spending tallies in for U.S. Senate primary
Michigan’s hard-fought race between El-Sayed and Stevens that ended this month is officially the most expensive Democratic U.S. Senate primary contest on record, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.
AdImpact tracked nearly $81 million in ad spending for the three Democratic Senate hopefuls — including that benefiting state Sen. Mallory McMorrow of Royal Oak who dropped out in July — with 88% of that figure spent by outside groups.
Overall, the spending catapulted Detroit’s media market to the eighth-highest spending market nationwide this cycle, with $39.1 million spent on the Senate primary, followed by the Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo-Battle Creek ($20.9 million), Lansing ($10.8 million) and Flint-Saginaw-Bay City ($9.9 million), per AdImpact.
Remarkably, the Michigan Democratic Senate primary wasn’t the most expensive primary election this cycle. That title goes to the Texas Republican primary, which saw over $99 million in ad spending.
In Michigan, AdImpact found that 20 advertisers spent a combined $80.8 million supporting the three Democratic candidates, while nine advertisers spent $17.1 million supporting Rogers, the Republican nominee from White Lake Township. The $98.2 million in total Michigan Senate primary ad spending more than tripled the state’s prior record for the most expensive primary that isn’t a presidential contest, per AdImpact.
That total makes it the third-most expensive Senate primary on record nationally and the second-most expensive in the 2025-26 cycle behind Texas. AdImpact also found Michigan’s gubernatorial primary also shattered a record, drawing $63.7 million in ad spending during the primary window.
It was a truly lopsided contest: Stevens, a four-term congresswoman, saw the most ad spending in the Senate race at nearly $64 million (with $60.5 million from outside groups), compared to the victor El-Sayed, who had $7.5 million in ad support, and McMorrow, with $9 million, according to AdImpact.
Total spending on all campaign activities — not just ads — in the Democratic primary was about $90 million, according to a Detroit News analysis of campaign finance records.
The biggest outside spenders were the pro-Israel and pro-Stevens United Democracy Project ($31.7 million), the pro-Stevens A Stronger Michigan ($16.1 million) and the pro-Rogers Americans for Prosperity Action ($10 million), per AdImpact.
AdImpact rated only 12% of the broadcast airings as negative, and found the most popular messaging themes in the primary were President Donald Trump, ICE, healthcare, special interests, and former President Barack Obama. The firm found nearly 73% of all broadcast airings were about Trump and a candidate’s opposition to him.
More than $114 million combined was spent on all campaign activities during Michigan’s U.S. Senate primary, The News found. While the three Democratic candidates battled for their party’s nomination, Rogers and his supporters were able to focus on building his brand for November’s general election.
Barrett says Miller deserves ‘due process’
U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Charlotte, said his GOP colleague, Ohio congressman Max Miller, deserves “due process” when he was asked whether he would return campaign contributions from Miller’s leadership PAC.
Barrett, who received about $2,500 from Miller’s PAC, noted Miller has requested a congressional ethics investigation after his ex-wife accused him of abuse.
“The challenges that Max Miller’s going through are, you know, really devastating for their family and something that is really sad to witness,” Barrett said, while speaking with reporters Thursday in Lansing. “I’m somebody who believes in due process.”
Barrett compared the due process needed in that case to what was afforded his opponent, Democrat Will Lawrence, when he was arrested 13 years ago during an environmental protest. Lawrence, who posted about the arrest in April, was convicted of a felony in relation to the protest that was later expunged.
“I think he would agree with me, I hope, that due process is an important protection,” Barrett said. “He certainly relied on it in his own proceedings.”
Lawrence accused Barrett of attempting to dodge questions on Miller.
“Numerous Republican senators have called on Rep. Miller to resign,” Lawrence wrote on social media. “Tom Barrett still refuses to. Return the money, Tom.”
Hertel BBQ raises $150k, draws Gavin Newsom
An annual backyard barbecue fundraiser for Michigan Democrats, put on by state Democratic Party Chairman Curtis Hertel Jr., raised about $150,000 in the Lansing area Monday night.
Among the 200 attendees were California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.
Hertel cooks much of the food for the event, including a much-discussed gumbo offering.
The Hertel cookout was one of several stops Newsom made in Michigan last week.
Lloyd campaign finance filing targeted
Republican attorney general candidate Doug Lloyd updated his most recent campaign finance filing after a miscommunication led the campaign to file a late, partial report with the Bureau of Elections.
Lloyd filed a pre-convention report Aug. 12, a day later than the Aug. 11 deadline, after the campaign said it was informed by the Bureau of Elections that the deadline wasn’t until Aug. 16.
The campaign provided copies of an email from a Bureau of Elections analyst who mistakenly stated that the deadline for pre-convention filings was Aug. 16. State law indicates the pre-convention report is due 11 days before the Aug. 22 Republican nominating convention, which would be Aug. 11.
The bureau, in a Friday letter to the campaign, said it would waive fees associated with the late filing because of the error.
The campaign appears to have filed an amended report Aug. 14 to address the holes in the one hurriedly filed on Aug. 12, which indicated Lloyd’s campaign had a closing balance of nearly $45,000 and had raised nothing since February. The Aug. 14 filing indicated Lloyd had about $95,000 cash on hand.
The filings prompted two campaign finance complaints from Michigan Democratic Party’s Hertel, who criticized Lloyd’s late report and the fact that it was missing several contributions, fundraisers and expenditures that could be corroborated through social media posts.
“The report’s omissions are so egregious that they can only be seen as an intentional effort to hide the sources of both Lloyd’s campaign funding, and his campaign’s expenditures as he runs for statewide office,” Hertel said in his complaint.
Hines added to Democrats’ seat-flipping campaign program, Lawrence not
U.S. House Democrats’ campaign arm announced last week that it added one Michigan candidate to its support program for key pickup opportunities, though the group notably left out another.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, or DCCC, said Tuesday it was adding Michigan 10th District hopeful Christina Hines to its Red to Blue program, which offers support to “top-tier” candidates running to flip swing districts.
Hines is a former prosecutor from Warren who won a competitive three-person primary earlier in August as she looks to take the U.S. House seat currently held by GOP gubernatorial nominee John James. The seat represents southern Macomb County and a small part of Oakland County.
“Christina Hines is tough as nails and has what it takes to flip this open seat blue,” said DCCC Chair Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington state. “Christina put violent criminals behind bars to keep Michigan families safe. A mom of three living with her family in the very same community that raised her, Christina gets the challenges facing Michigan families.”
Hines will face Republican Mike Bouchard of Rochester Hills in November.
DelBene’s organization notably did not add the 7th District’s Lawrence to its support program, though it could later on. Lawrence is a progressive who beat out two more moderate Democrats in the Lansing-based primary and is looking to flip Barrett’s seat.
DCCC added 4th District nominee Sean McCann of Kalamazoo to its Red to Blue list earlier in the election cycle. He will face incumbent GOP U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga of Holland in the fall.
Tweet of the Week
The Insider report’s “Tweet of the Week,” recognizing a social media post that was worthy of attention or, possibly, just a laugh, from the previous week, goes to Republican lieutenant governor candidate Jay DeBoyer.
GOP nominee for governor John James named DeBoyer, a state representative from Clay Township, his running mate on Thursday.
DeBoyer doesn’t get the Tweet of the Week award for any particular post. Instead, he gets it for his four-word X bio, which, as of Friday, read simply, “WOODS, WATER AND WHISKEY.”
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This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Abdul El-Sayed’s book backed federalized elections, reparations | Insider
Reporting by Craig Mauger, Melissa Nann Burke, Beth LeBlanc and Grant Schwab, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Craig Mauger, Melissa Nann Burke, Beth LeBlanc and Grant Schwab, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
