Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed on Sunday described a “really warm” conversation with former President Barack Obama as the party seeks to find a path forward following last week’s bruising primary.
“I like to keep private conversations private, but it was a really, really warm conversation,” El-Sayed told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The State of the Union.” “I was really grateful for his advice, and we’ve got a long road to go here, but we’re perfectly unified in the need to win Michigan, take back the Senate, and hold Donald Trump accountable.”
During the conversation — which took place just days after El-Sayed, a progressive, narrowly defeated moderate Rep. Haley Stevens, the Democratic establishment’s preferred candidate — they discussed how to bring Democrats together to retain Michigan’s critical Senate seat in November, according to representatives for El-Sayed and Obama.
It’s the major question facing El-Sayed: Whether he can build a coalition, as Obama did in his 2008 and 2012 presidential runs, to win the battleground state. While prominent Democrats have moved quickly to back El-Sayed, he may still face an uphill battle in courting Stevens voters unhappy with his primary campaign, during which he sharply criticized his rival over her support from the pro-Israel group AIPAC.
Republicans are hoping to dig into those divisions as they seek to flip the seat — GOP nominee Mike Rogers made a direct-to-camera pitch to disappointed Stevens voters on Friday.
For her part, Stevens quickly endorsed El-Sayed after his win and said she would be open to campaigning with him.
Obama, however, has not gone so far as to say he would join the former public health official on the campaign trail.