Arab American Trump voters in Michigan weigh El-Sayed over Rogers as Senate race tightens

Centre · 1Some Michigan voters who backed President Donald Trump in 2024, including Arab Americans in Dearborn, say they plan to vote for Democrat Abdul El-Sayed over Republican Mike Rogers in the U.S. Senate race, according to Newsweek. 1 Mixed · 2Dearborn is a majority Arab American city that Trump carried in 2024, largely out of anger over U.S. support for Israel's war in Gaza; Newsweek puts his share at about 42 percent. 1 2 Centre · 1Newsweek, citing The Washington Post, says three Dearborn residents who voted for Trump now back El-Sayed, saying Trump failed to end wars in Lebanon and Yemen or bring down prices; none regret their Trump vote, but all three say El-Sayed now best reflects "America First." 1

Right · 1The Washington Examiner reports from Dearborn that Trump's increasingly personal attacks on El-Sayed are drawing anger there; one resident, Panna Sharker, 35, said: "Two years ago, we were his best friends. Now, we are terrorists." 2 Right · 1At a Port Huron rally, Trump said El-Sayed would be the only senator to go through a metal detector, and he called El-Sayed "a Jihadist Member of the Muslim Brotherhood" in a Truth Social post; Senators Ted Cruz and Bernie Moreno also attacked El-Sayed while campaigning for Rogers. 2 Centre · 1Newsweek adds that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said at a Grand Rapids event for Rogers that "500 million Arabs in the world" "don't produce science," and that Rogers has tied El-Sayed to the Muslim Brotherhood without evidence, asking in the October 21 debate whether El-Sayed is "for these terrorist groups overseas." 1

Mixed · 2El-Sayed has denied ties to the Muslim Brotherhood; the Examiner says the Washington Free Beacon found old social media posts by El-Sayed's half-sister claiming family ties to the group, which El-Sayed called "hearsay evidence from a tweet." 2 1 Mixed · 2Democrats and Muslim advocates call the attacks Islamophobic, and Barack Obama compared them to the birther conspiracy at an October 24 Detroit rally; Daud Walid of CAIR Michigan said anti-Muslim bias appears across both parties. 1 2 Right · 1Trump told the Examiner he is not worried about losing support: "I do very well with the Arab vote." 2

Centre · 1Newsweek says El-Sayed has led every major public poll in the past two weeks, mostly within the margin of error, including 51 to 45 percent in a Glengariff Group survey of 600 likely voters, Marist at 50 to 48, InsiderAdvantage at 47 to 46, and MSU/YouGov at 48 to 46. 1 Centre · 1In a Washington Post-Schar School poll cited by Newsweek, 58 percent of Arab Americans nationally support Democrats for Congress after splitting evenly between Trump and Harris in 2024, though two-thirds of Arab Americans who voted for Trump still approve of his job performance. 1 Centre · 1Federal Election Commission filings reviewed by Newsweek show Dearborn-area donors gave El-Sayed about $131,000 from 212 people from mid-July through September, against about $9,100 from 11 donors to Rogers; El-Sayed raised about $30.7 million overall to Rogers' $9.7 million, while Republicans lead TV ad spending $105 million to $76 million. 1

Right · 1The Examiner also quotes a Republican-leaning attendee at Trump's Port Huron rally, who asked not to be named, saying El-Sayed seemed relatable and that the El-Sayed shown in anti-El-Sayed ads "is not who I saw." 2 Mixed · 2Michigan has not sent a Republican to the Senate since 1994; Rogers lost to Elissa Slotkin by less than a point in 2024, and the seat is open because Gary Peters is retiring. The election is on Tuesday. 1 2