A petition titled "Michigan Jews Against Extremism" has been gathering signatures from Jewish residents who say they have been strong supporters of Democratic candidates but intend to vote for Republican Mike Rogers this November. The petition argues that a win for Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed would let what it calls far-left and anti-Jewish elements become dominant in the party ahead of the 2028 presidential race. It was launched before El-Sayed's recent apologies and has picked up more signatures since, according to JTA. Roughly 100,000 Jews live in Michigan, in a race that could decide control of the Senate.
El-Sayed has spent recent weeks trying to close the gap. Speaking to the state Democratic Party's Jewish caucus at the party convention, he apologized for his remarks following the March attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, when he said that hurt people hurt people, telling the caucus he had made a mistake. He repeated the apology the next day at the caucus fundraiser and said his commitment to Jewish safety is the same as his commitment to his own daughters' safety. He has called antisemitism a scourge. He has also declined to disavow the streamer Hasan Piker, saying only that nobody speaks for his campaign except him and his spokespeople.
The sharpest flashpoint came from inside the community. State Attorney General Dana Nessel, who is Jewish and has clashed with El-Sayed over his rhetoric, urged the same Sunday gathering to place the needs of the world above their own self-interest and even their own survival. The remark landed one day after she sat out a state Democratic convention over what she described as fear of antisemitic harassment, and it has drawn criticism well beyond Michigan.
Republicans are working the split hard. Vice President JD Vance called El-Sayed very, very evil at a rally in Sterling Heights, accused him of sympathizing with the Temple Israel attacker, and met with clergy from the synagogue during his Michigan visit before addressing the Republican Jewish Coalition summit in Las Vegas. El-Sayed responded that Michigan is better than being lectured by sock puppets from Ohio.
The uncomfortable symmetry, as the Times of Israel noted in its analysis this week, is that both men have shown reluctance to disavow their own inflammatory supporters. Vance's standing with parts of the pro-Israel Republican world is complicated by his association with Tucker Carlson, among the loudest critics of American support for Israel. For Jewish voters in Michigan, that leaves a choice between two campaigns that each ask the community to overlook something.
