Obama plans Detroit rally with El-Sayed in tight Senate race

Former president Barack Obama and president Donald Trump both plan to campaign in Michigan during the coming weeks in a showdown to bolster their candidates, especially in the key Senate race between Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and opponent Mike Rogers, just ahead of the Nov 3 election.

Obama’s Oct 24 appearance – coming about a month after former vice president Kamala Harris campaigned with El-Sayed – underscores the stakes for Democrats in Michigan, long seen as a must-win for the party if it wants to retake the Senate.

In addition to El-Sayed, the rally will feature Michigan secretary of state Jocelyn Benson, who is running for governor, according to a statement Monday from the state’s Democratic Party.

Several polls show El-Sayed within the margin of error in his race against former Republican representative Mike Rogers, with the campaign becoming one of the most expensive in this midterm cycle.

More than US$280 million has been spent on advertising so far, according to AdImpact.

Democrats need to flip four seats to take a majority in the Senate and while more races nationally have become competitive, holding Michigan following the retirement of Democratic Senator Gary Peters is seen as essential to that effort.

Trump said at the White House on Monday that he will be in Michigan “in about a week and a half.” He was last in the state in July when he held a rally at the General Motors vehicle testing ground in Milford outside Detroit. The president has spent his time campaigning recently in the Republican-led states of Alabama and Oklahoma.

The question for Republicans is whether Trump will help Rogers. The Epic MRA poll said 57% of Michigan voters polled see Trump unfavourably. Governor Gretchen Whitmer fares next worst with a 42% unfavourable rating.

El-Sayed has been working to court Michigan’s Black voters, who largely backed his Democratic opponent during the primary. A recent poll conducted in the state by Epic MRA in late August had El-Sayed leading Rogers among all voters by 47% to 43%. The same poll had 77% of Black voters backing the Democrat.

Obama has kept a relatively low profile in midterm races so far, though he did travel to Texas to support Senate candidate James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa, the Democratic candidate for governor, at a taco restaurant in Austin in May.