Ocasio-Cortez endorses El-Sayed in Michigan Senate race

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) announced Thursday that she’s endorsing former Wayne County Health Director Abdul El-Sayed, a fellow progressive, one month out from the Democratic primary in the Michigan Senate race.

“We are proud to endorse Abdul El-Sayed to be Michigan’s next senator. Abdul is building a winning coalition by putting forward an agenda that speaks directly to working people,” Ocasio-Cortez’s team wrote on social platform X.

In an interview with The New York Times, which first broke news of the endorsement, Ocasio-Cortez — widely floated as a possible 2028 presidential or Senate hopeful — said the former health official gives the Democratic Party its best chance at winning the seat in the fall.

El-Sayed wrote in his own statement that he was “honored” to have the progressive leader’s backing.

“AOC has spent her career taking on the powerful on behalf of everyday people, and she has shown all of us what courageous, smart, values-driven leadership looks like,” he posted online, featuring photos of the two of them in 2018 and this year.

The Democratic primary to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) is just weeks away, featuring a three-way contest between El-Sayed, Rep. Haley Stevens (Mich.) — who’s seen as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) preferred pick — and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow.

The former Wayne County health director saw another surge of momentum last month when the United Auto Workers, one of the most influential unions in the historically auto industry-driven Michigan, announced the group is backing El-Sayed in the Aug. 4 primary.

The Michigan Senate race is seen as one of Senate Republicans’ top pickup opportunities this fall, particularly in a swing state that went for President Trump in 2024.

Recent polling has shown El-Sayed as the front-runner in the race, where questions over the direction of the Democratic Party have served as a key focal point. The former local health official has represented the insurgent, progressive wing of the party, while Stevens has represented the establishment faction of the party.

Ocasio-Cortez’s decision to endorse in a contested Senate Democratic primary is notable as she’s largely stayed out of many of the primary contests in heated races, including most of the Senate elections. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) have been less shy about weighing in on the ideological battles being waged in heated House and Senate primaries this cycle.

The endorsement is another helpful boost for El-Sayed as a number of progressive Democrats have notched key wins in safely blue primaries; the Michigan Senate Democratic primary will test whether that streak could stretch into more competitive territory.