Kamala Harris returns to campaign trail to boost Abdul El-Sayed in critical Michigan Senate race

Kamala Harris is set to campaign Tuesday with Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, in a joint appearance between two Democrats in a state crucial to the party’s fortunes in this fall’s midterms — and the presidential primary to follow.

Harris and El-Sayed plan to hold a roundtable in the Detroit area focused on Black maternal healthcare, an issue she focused on as vice president . She will also attend a private reception with Michigan leaders hosted by the Oakland County Democratic Party and its chair, former US Rep. Brenda Lawrence, where the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Jocelyn Benson, is expected to speak, a source familiar with the matter said.

Later in the day, Harris plans to separately meet with Rev. Wendell Anthony, president of the NAACP’s Detroit branch; Rev. Genetta Hatcher of The Room Church; and other faith leaders in an event focused on voter turnout.

It’s a notably robust schedule for the former vice president, whose political plans are a subject of intense debate within the Democratic Party . Michigan, which Harris narrowly lost in 2024, isn’t just a swing state in general elections — it’s also poised to become one of the first six states to vote in the Democratic nominating process under a new calendar approved by the Democratic National Committee this year.

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“People like her,” Anthony told CNN on Monday. “People like the fact that this African American woman who was vice president, for the first time in the nation’s history, is coming back to the ‘D’ to talk to us about the importance of voting.”

Anthony said that “nobody has a lock on anything” when it comes to the 2028 primary — echoing the sentiments of several other Michiganders who spoke to CNN.

Stephanie Stamps, a Democratic voter from Farmington, said she “possibly” would want to see Harris run for president in 2028, but noted “there might be better candidates at this point.”

“I don’t feel like she had the best shake” in 2024, said Stamps, arguing then-President Joe Biden should have dropped out earlier to allow for a full nominating contest to play out. “I think she would have done a good job, but I think she’s gone a little bit underground since that point, or at least I haven’t seen a lot of her.”

Democrats need a net gain of four Senate seats to win control of the chamber in November. Crucial to that math is holding onto the seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters in Michigan — a battleground state, to be sure, but one that is generally more favorable to Democrats than other states with competitive Senate races this fall including Alaska, Texas and Ohio.

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Harris and El-Sayed, a former public health official in Wayne County, are seeking to unify a Democratic Party fractured by his hard-fought primary against Rep. Haley Stevens for the Senate nomination.

El-Sayed won the primary on the strength of his support among progressives. But Black voters, including Anthony, largely backed Stevens. Former Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican Senate nominee, has openly appealed to Black Democrats as well as Jewish voters amid El-Sayed’s sharp criticism of Israel and an initial statement about an antisemitic attack in March on a synagogue in West Bloomfield Township, near Detroit.

Anthony, who endorsed Stevens in the primary, said an El-Sayed endorsement is “still a work in progress.”

“I think he’s a good man. I really believe that. I think that he’s saying some of the right things,” he said.

Two years ago, Harris and El-Sayed were on opposite sides of a key political debate in Michigan. El-Sayed, a vocal critic of Israel, initially supported the “Uncommitted” movement , a push to vote against Biden in the state’s Democratic primary over his handling of the war between Israel and Hamas.

The Michigan Democrat eventually supported Harris as the nominee as she campaigned against Trump. But Harris still had to navigate the angst within her own party over the administration’s handling of the conflict in Gaza, and frustration from Arab American voters and supporters of the “Uncommitted” movement played into her loss in the state.

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Publicly, Harris has repeatedly said when asked about a 2028 run that she is “thinking about it” — and has offered no timeline for a decision. In addition to the Michigan trip, Harris is planning to campaign with Democrats in Nevada and Georgia in the coming weeks.

“I think it’s important that we bring different groups of people together. The thing about democracy is — it’s not about dividing. It’s about bringing people together,” El-Sayed said in an interview with CNN on Labor Day. “I’m grateful for the folks that she’s willing to talk to on our behalf.”

Stamps, who is supporting El-Sayed in the Senate race, said she hopes Harris can convince those voters who didn’t cast ballots in 2024 because they “thought maybe it would be closer to a slam dunk” to turn out in this election.

“Hopefully, we’ll get out and vote this time, since it’s kind of proven that if you don’t, who knows what we’re going to end up with,” Stamps said.

卡马拉·哈里斯将于周二与密歇根州参议员候选人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德一起参加竞选活动。两位民主党人将共同亮相密歇根州，该州对于民主党在今年秋季中期选举以及随后的总统初选中的命运至关重要。

哈里斯和埃尔-赛义德计划在底特律地区举行一场圆桌会议，重点讨论黑人孕产妇保健问题，这是她担任副总统期间一直关注的议题。一位知情人士透露，她还将出席由奥克兰县民主党及其主席、前美国众议员布伦达·劳伦斯主持的与密歇根州领导人举行的私人招待会，民主党州长候选人乔斯林·本森预计将在会上发表讲话。

当天晚些时候，哈里斯计划分别会见全国有色人种协进会底特律分会主席温德尔·安东尼牧师、The Room Church 的吉内塔·哈彻牧师以及其他宗教领袖，参加一个以提高选民投票率为主题的活动。

对于这位前副总统来说，这无疑是一个异常紧凑的日程安排，而她的政治计划在民主党内部也引发了激烈的争论。哈里斯在2024年以微弱劣势败北的密歇根州，不仅是普选中的摇摆州，而且根据民主党全国委员会今年批准的新日程安排，它还将成为民主党提名程序中首批投票的六个州之一。

Andrew Roth/Sipa USA/美联社

安东尼周一告诉CNN：“人们喜欢她。人们喜欢这位非裔美国女性，她曾是美国历史上第一位担任副总统的女性，现在她回到底特律，和我们谈谈投票的重要性。”

安东尼表示，在 2028 年总统初选方面，“没有人能掌控任何事情”——这与几位接受 CNN 采访的密歇根州居民的观点不谋而合。

来自法明顿的民主党选民斯蒂芬妮·斯坦普斯表示，她“可能”希望看到哈里斯在 2028 年竞选总统，但她也指出“目前可能有更好的候选人”。

斯塔姆斯说：“我觉得她在2024年并没有获得最佳机会。”他认为，当时的总统乔·拜登应该更早退出竞选，以便进行完整的提名竞争。“我认为她本来可以做得很好，但我觉得从那以后她就有点销声匿迹了，或者至少我很少见到她。”

民主党需要在11月赢得参议院净增四个席位才能掌控参议院。其中至关重要的是保住即将退休的民主党参议员加里·彼得斯在密歇根州的席位——密歇根州无疑是一个摇摆州，但总体而言，与其他今年秋季参议院选举竞争激烈的州（例如阿拉斯加州、德克萨斯州和俄亥俄州）相比，该州对民主党更有利。

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哈里斯和埃尔-赛义德（韦恩县前公共卫生官员）正试图团结民主党，该党因哈里斯与众议员海莉·史蒂文斯在参议院提名初选中的激烈竞争而分裂。

埃尔-赛义德凭借进步派选民的支持赢得了初选。但包括安东尼在内的黑人选民大多支持史蒂文斯。共和党参议员候选人、前众议员迈克·罗杰斯公开呼吁黑人民主党人和犹太选民支持埃尔-赛义德，此前埃尔-赛义德曾严厉批评以色列，并就今年3月发生在底特律附近西布卢姆菲尔德镇犹太教堂的反犹袭击事件发表了初步声明。

曾在初选中支持史蒂文斯的安东尼表示，埃尔-赛义德的支持“仍在进行中”。

“我认为他是个好人。我真的这么认为。我认为他说的有些话很中肯，”他说。

两年前，哈里斯和埃尔-赛义德在密歇根州一场重要的政治辩论中立场截然相反。埃尔-赛义德是以色列的公开批评者，他最初支持“未表态”运动，该运动旨在推动选民在密歇根州民主党初选中投票反对拜登，因为他处理以色列和哈马斯之间战争的方式不当。

密歇根州的民主党人最终支持哈里斯成为候选人，因为她当时正在竞选对抗特朗普。但哈里斯仍然需要应对党内对特朗普政府处理加沙冲突方式的不满，而阿拉伯裔美国选民和“未表态”运动支持者的失望情绪也导致了她在该州的失利。

丽莎·洛伊特纳/路透社

公开场合，当被问及是否会参加2028年总统竞选时，哈里斯多次表示她“正在考虑”，但并未给出具体的决定时间表。除了密歇根州之行，哈里斯还计划在未来几周内与民主党人在内华达州和佐治亚州进行竞选活动。

“我认为让不同群体的人们走到一起非常重要。民主的真谛在于团结人民，而不是分裂人民，”埃尔-赛义德在劳动节接受CNN采访时说道。“我感谢她愿意代表我们与这些人对话。”

支持埃尔-赛义德竞选参议员的斯塔姆斯表示，她希望哈里斯能够说服那些在 2024 年因为“认为这次选举可能胜券在握”而没有投票的选民，让他们在这次选举中出来投票。

“希望这次我们都能出来投票，因为事实证明，如果不投票，谁知道我们最终会面临什么结果，”斯塔姆斯说。