AOC endorses progressive Democrat in closely watched Michigan race for US Senate seat

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has thrown her support behind Abdul El-Sayed, the doctor and progressive Democrat seeking the party’s nomination in Michigan’s closely watched US Senate race.

In an interview with the New York Times, Ocasio-Cortez – an influential congresswoman on the left of the Democratic party – endorsed El-Sayed, a former public health director. “Despite our ideological differences and whatever disagreements there are in the party, every single one of us sees this moment as existential,” she said.

“I think many people are willing to put aside differences in order to give us the best chance at winning,” Ocasio-Cortez, who represents New York, told the Times. “And I think that Abdul gives us that right now.”

The race to replace Gary Peters, the outgoing Democratic senator, has become one of the cycle’s most competitive Democratic primaries, shaping up as a test between insurgent and establishment-backed candidates – and a proxy for the party’s broader ideological rift.

El-Sayed, who already has the backing of Bernie Sanders, an independent US senator, is hoping to capitalize on the momentum of other progressives who have notched congressional primary wins in recent months.

He now leads his challengers in the latest polls, a field that includes Haley Stevens, a US congresswoman – backed by senior Democratic leadership, including the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer – and Mallory McMorrow, a state senator who has drawn support from prominent Democrats such as Elizabeth Warren, a US senator.

The prevailing candidate will represent the party in November’s US midterm elections, with Democrats looking to flip control of the House of Representatives and the Senate, away from Republicans. Obtaining a majority in the upper chamber is widely considered to be the tougher challenge, and retaining seats like Michigan are seen as critical to Democrats’ wider bid to regain control of the Senate.

El-Sayed’s populist economic platform includes banning tax incentives for companies such as Amazon, imposing new taxes on billionaires, eliminating medical debt and strengthening anti-monopoly laws to curb corporate price gouging. He has also called for an end to “blank check” military aid to Israel and other countries.

Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement marks her first in a competitive US Senate primary during this midterm cycle.

El-Sayed welcomed the support, writing on X: “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. I’m deeply honored to earn her endorsement. Onward to victory.”

The Democratic nominee in the Great Lake State is likely to face Mike Rogers, the former Republican representative, in the general election. Rogers previously ran for Senate in 2024 and lost to Elissa Slotkin by less than 0.5% of the vote, despite Donald Trump carrying the state.