Lansing — The United Auto Workers, a powerful labor union with hundreds of thousands of members in Michigan, endorsed on Friday Democrat Abdul El-Sayed for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat and Democrat Jocelyn Benson for governor.
The union’s backing of a progressive candidate from Ann Arbor running against U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow of Royal Oak in the Democratic primary could send shockwaves through the high-profile race.
“UAW members in Michigan want a fighter in Washington, D.C., who isn’t afraid to push forward a strong working-class agenda with moral clarity,” a statement from the UAW said of its support of El-Sayed.
Meanwhile, Benson, Michigan’s two-term secretary of state, is viewed as the heavy favorite for her party’s nomination for governor. Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson, Benson’s lone primary opponent, had been pushing hard for the UAW’s support to bolster his underdog campaign.
The UAW sided with Benson, calling the 2026 gubernatorial election a critical race.
“As secretary of state, Jocelyn Benson has proved she’s not afraid to stand up against the most powerful billionaires in the name of working-class Michiganders across the state,” a statement from the UAW said. “UAW members need that kind of energy in Michigan’s Capitol.”
Michigan’s current governor, Democrat Gretchen Whitmer, can’t run for reelection this fall because of term limits.
Four Republicans are running for their party’s nomination: former Attorney General Mike Cox of Livonia, U.S. Rep. John James of Shelby Township, businessman Perry Johnson of Bloomfield Hills and state Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt of Porter Township.
Only Benson, Swanson and independent candidate Mike Duggan, Detroit former mayor, participated in a forum hosted by the UAW on 18 May. Duggan ended his campaign for governor three days later.
The Senate candidates are vying for a seat held by U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township. Peters announced in January 2025 that he wouldn’t seek reelection to a third six-year term.
Former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers of White Lake Township is the lone Republican candidate for the Senate position.
On El-Sayed, the UAW pointed to a position that sets him apart from his Democratic rivals: He has not accepted donations from corporate political action committees. Meanwhile, automakers Ford Motor Co. and General Motors have ranked among the top donors to Stevens.
“Having never taken a dime from corporate PACs, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed is someone we can trust to have our backs, including when we need it most — like come May Day 2028,” the UAW statement said. “From Medicare for All to banning stock buybacks, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed is ready, eager, and well-equipped to move our core issues in the U.S. Senate.”
Michigan Senate hopefuls spent months wooing UAW members
When the UAW held a Senate candidate forum in Washington, D.C., in February, the trio of Democrats all touted their union-friendly records for the crowd, with each agreeing to push for passage of the PRO Act to protect collective bargaining rights, safeguarding Social Security and defined benefit pension plans, supporting the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act as well as resisting the “federal takeover” of local elections.
El-Sayed and McMorrow at that event both isolated Stevens as the only candidate on stage who accepts donations from corporate PACs for her Senate bid. McMorrow previously accepted money from corporate PACs but swore them off for her Senate run.
“Too many politicians out there tell you that they’re working for the working class while too often serving two masters. I have never asked for their money. I will never ask for their money,” El-Sayed said at the forum.
El-Sayed also differs from his rivals in that he’s the only candidate pushing for single-payer health care and who aims to ban stock buybacks, citing examples of companies accepting taxpayer-backed incentives and later buying back millions in stock and laying off workers.
McMorrow has announced state-level legislation that would prohibit corporations from repurchasing their own stock on the open market if they received tax breaks from the state of Michigan. El-Sayed wants to ban corporate stock buybacks outright.
Earlier this year, El-Sayed began speaking about a Medicare for All proposal that would allow those who want to keep the health insurance provided by their union or employer to keep it ― “that can still be there for you,” he said.
This was viewed as an overture to win more union support, though El-Sayed said it was part of a broader effort to attract more supporters for Medicare for All, which is government-funded health coverage that’s guaranteed for every American.
Adrian Hemond, a Democrat and CEO of the firm Grassroots Midwest, called the UAW’s endorsement of El-Sayed “crazy” considering that Medicare for All ― one of his signature policy platforms ― represents a “direct threat” to one of the better benefits that UAW offers its membership, generous health insurance.
“That all goes away if you adopt socialized medicine,” Hemond said.
He was also skeptical that the endorsement is reflective of the UAW’s rank-and-file membership versus the regional and national leadership that weigh in on such picks.
“Ask Hillary Clinton how that worked out in 2016. She had the UAW endorsement, but a sizable plurality of the UAW membership decided they liked Donald Trump better,” said Hemond, referencing the Democrats’ failed 2016 presidential candidate.
Still, Hemond admitted, it’s a “hell of a get” for El-Sayed, who in 2018 lost the UAW endorsement to Whitmer in that year’s gubernatorial primary contest.
“The UAW name still matters a lot in this state,” Hemond said. “But this isn’t 20 years ago when a UAW endorsement meant you could count on a vote from the majority of their members. It probably gets you in the door to be considered by some of those members who might not even have known who you are, which is a real problem for all three Democrats in this race.”
He noted the stereotype of this union is that it’s “mostly dudes who work in automotive factories.” But the largest UAW local in the country is Local 6000, which represents Michigan’s state employees who are “much more educated and more female than your stereotypical UAW member,” he said.
A blow to Haley Stevens’ campaign
The UAW’s nod on Friday also represents a blow for Stevens, who has crafted her campaign around a manufacturing pitch to working families, calling herself Michigan’s “manufacturing maven,” emphasizing her automotive policy proposals and highlighting her role as the former chief of staff to the auto rescue task force during the Obama administration.
Stevens has also highlighted her No Chinese Cars Act to revise U.S. trade rules “so those cars don’t come in here and squash your jobs and our plants through unfair trade practices.”
She has also pushed for a change that when lawmakers in Congress rent or buy a car for their official duties, they should have to choose vehicles that are American-made or assembled by unionized workers.
“At a moment in time when Trump’s reckless tariffs and China’s state-sponsored auto industry pose increasingly dangerous threats to Michigan’s manufacturing and auto industries, it is more important than ever to elect someone who will fight every day to protect our jobs and Michigan’s economy,” Stevens spokesman Arik Wolk said Friday in a statement. “As U.S. senator, Haley will continue to fight to protect Michigan manufacturing, stand up to Trump’s chaos, and ensure good-paying auto jobs stay right here, in Michigan.”
Just last week at the Mackinac Policy Conference, Stevens partnered with U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Holly to announce joint legislation to ban all entry of Chinese nameplate vehicles from Canada and Mexico into the United States, even for temporary visits to border cities in states like Michigan, California and Texas.
Slotkin, who has not endorsed in the Senate primary, said Stevens was a “natural pick” for her co-lead on the bill “because she’s truly the strongest member we have on auto policy coming out of the state of Michigan.”
“Rep. Stevens has been the leader in the House on auto manufacturing policy since we were both (House) freshmen together. She knows it backwards and forwards, she knows the history, and importantly, she’s of a different generation that really understands the auto industry needs to be future-focused — not just looking backwards at how the auto industry used to be,” Slotkin said.
cmauger@detroitnews.com
mburke@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: UAW endorses Abdul El-Sayed for Senate, Jocelyn Benson for governor
Reporting by Craig Mauger and Melissa Nann Burke, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Craig Mauger and Melissa Nann Burke, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
