A Farmington Public Schools board member is facing accusations of racism and Islamophobia after saying Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed should stop speaking Arabic and playing Arabic music at campaign events.
The post Haley Stevens supporter falsely attacks El-Sayed over an Arabic campaign that doesn’t exist appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.
Outgoing US Senator Gary Peters is endorsing Congresswoman Haley Stevens in the Democratic primary for US Senate.
Peters described Stevens as an “outstanding” candidate who will hit the ground running on day one. He talked about working with Stevens during the Obama administration and how he thinks that experience gives her a leg up over her opponent, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed.
“We want someone who can come in that doesn’t have a learning curve,” Peters said. “Someone who’s going to immediately represent the people of Michigan and fight for their interest. She’s Michigan through and through.”
Peters said he wanted to stay out of endorsing in the Democratic primary until he realized how Michigan’s elections will impact the entire country. He said he sees “chaos” in the Trump administration, with inflated prices making it harder for Michiganders to buy gas and groceries.
“It’s absolutely essential that a Democrat wins in Michigan. We need to have a check and balance with the administration,” Peters said.
Peters denied his sudden endorsement meant the Stevens campaign was “panicked” as alleged by the Michigan Republican Party.
“That should be very telling when Republicans are making that comment. I guess they want the other candidate to win.”
El-Sayed has largely been leading in the polls since the beginning of May.
Peters described Michiganders as “practical, common-sense folks” who just want to get things done. To Peters, out-of-state endorsements for El-Sayed don’t reflect the needs of Michigan.
“To me, this race is about Michigan,” Peters said. “It’s not about who’s attracting a national audience or who’s on national TV. It’s about who’s actually delivering for the people of Michigan.”
However, money from outside sources like AIPAC has benefited Stevens’ campaign, with millions of dollars coming in for ad campaigns.
Peters says there would be big spending for Republicans in their primary if Mike Rogers had a serious challenger.
“Whoever wins the primary, part of that $45 million of Republican money is going to go after that person with everything they’ve got, and that’s why you have to have someone who has a proven track record of actually winning tough races,” Peters said.
What people should be focusing on instead of money, according to Peters, are the messages from each Democratic candidate.
On the Republican side, Peters said that Mike Rogers will serve as a “rubber stamp” for the Trump administration instead of serving the needs of Michigan.
The post US Senator Gary Peters endorses Haley Stevens appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
Come November, thousands of political seats are up for grabs.
One of the most compelling races in Michigan is the Senate. That’s in part because of what it says about the Democratic Party, especially after Mallory McMorrow dropped out.
Most polls have Abdul El-Sayed leading in the race, but there is still uncertainty as to whether he can defeat Haley Stevens, a sitting congresswoman who gained notoriety for her moderation, and for bailing out the auto industry.
Dennis Darnoi is the founder of Densar Consulting, based in Farmington. He says many voters want candidates that have an anti-institutional and populist bent.
“Progressive candidates are running against these establishment candidates and they’re being more successful because the Democratic base is really looking for two things: They’re looking for people who are going to fight and they’re looking for people who are anti-system.”
Darnoi spoke with The Metro’s Robyn Vincent about the Senate race and how it reflects changes to politics in Michigan and beyond.
Hear the full conversation using the media player above.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and stream on-demand.
Never miss an episode — subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, NPR, or wherever you get your podcasts.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
The post The Metro: What Michigan’s Senate race reveals about the state — and future — of the Democratic Party appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
The United Auto Workers (UAW) endorsed Abdul El-Sayed for Michigan’s open U.S. senate seat and Jocelyn Benson for Governor.
For UAW Region 1A Director Mark DePaoli, this move puts the union “back at the forefront” in terms of political influence.
To determine which candidate receives their endorsement, DePaoli said the UAW Community Action Program (CAP) Board schedules meetings with candidates to ask questions and vote on who best reflects their values.
“They ask a lot of tough questions because they want to be able to hold the candidates accountable for their answers,” DePaoli said.
UAW rules require a two-thirds majority of CAP board member to agree in order for an endorsement to be made.
“The best part about it is whether you’re one of the CAP reps from the plant, you’re one of the three Michigan directors, or you’re the president of the UAW, everybody’s vote weighs the same,” DePaoli said.
The CAP representatives came from each plant and facility represented by UAW, DePaoli said, and ended up voting in favor of El-Sayed.
Another way UAW members learn more about the candidates and their beliefs is through a public debate in which the candidates discuss their values.
“It was live stream for all of our members, and the consensus at the end of that debate amongst everybody that was talking was that Abdul was the clear-cut winner,” DePaoli said.
The vote was a surprise in some circles since the other two candidates—Congresswoman Haley Stevens and State Senator Mallory McMorrow—both have some background in the auto industry.
Stevens worked on the 2009 auto bailout in the Obama Administration. McMorrow trained as car designer. In autoworker-heavy Michigan, both candidates have leaned into drawing the interest of organized labor.
DePaoli said he was “dreading” the endorsement decision because each candidate had values that the UAW supported, but he decided that El-Sayed would be best suited to tackle the issue of healthcare, which DePaoli referred to as “the biggest problem” for the majority of Americans.
“We seem to be the only country where it’s acceptable for big business to make profit off of our illnesses,” DePaoli said. “Why not a health care expert in the U.S. Senate to help try and fix some of these problems?”
El-Sayed said he was “deeply honored” to receive the endorsement from UAW. El-Sayed makes it a point that his campaign is built from union members instead of “corporate PAC money, AIPAC and Washington insiders.”
“Together, we’re going to take on corporate greed, rebuild an economy that works for working people, strengthen collective bargaining and ensure that the future of Michigan manufacturing is built right here by union workers,” El-Sayed said.
In the past, the UAW has almost exclusively endorsed Democratic candidates. According to DePaoli, UAW leadership invited all candidates for the U.S. Senate seat, and only three Democrats attended. Republican Mike Rogers did not attend.
“It makes it hard to endorse somebody that doesn’t even bother to come out and listen to the questions and hear the concerns of your membership, let alone give an answer,” DePaoli said. “I don’t think they even try to get Labor’s endorsement because they know they’re not going to vote any policies in favor of Labor.”
In the race for Michigan Governor, Jocelyn Benson has a financial advantage over Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson. She also has a lead in the polls.
According to DePaoli both candidates were worthy of backing and recently discussed their positions for the CAP board at UAW Local 600.
“Two great candidates coming from completely different backgrounds,” DePaoli said. “At the end of the day, we don’t completely trust in polls, but we were comfortable that Jocelyn Benson was the correct decision.”
None of the Republican candidates for governor showed up.
At the time, former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan was in the race and in the forum.
“I think a lot of people were surprised at how well he did,” DePaoli said. “But I think everybody had gotten to a point to say, well, even if we don’t endorse him—if he does win— we’re comfortable that we can work with him and get things done for labor.”
Duggan dropped out citing concerns over money and no path to victory given a recent surge for democrats.
The post Anatomy of an endorsement: Why the UAW chose El-Sayed, Benson appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
Michigan picks its next governor in November, and the Democratic frontrunner is Jocelyn Benson.
Benson made her name as Secretary of State when she refused to overturn Michigan’s 2020 election — even when armed protesters showed up at her Detroit home while she decorated a Christmas tree with her four-year-old son. The John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award followed. So did the Presidential Citizens Medal.
Now she wants to replace Gretchen Whitmer in a state that voted for Donald Trump just 18 months ago.
Her path got easier last week when independent Mike Duggan dropped out, citing low poll numbers and fundraising struggles. She has also faced scrutiny along the way: her own Democratic attorney general ruled she’d broken state campaign-finance law launching her bid, and the Trump Justice Department sued her for Michigan’s voter rolls — a suit a federal judge dismissed in February.
The Metro’s Robyn Vincent had 15 minutes to find out what this all means.
This article has been updated to note that the U.S. Justice Department lawsuit against Michigan over voter rolls was dismissed in February 2026.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.
Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
The post The Metro: Jocelyn Benson on the cost of living, data centers and the race for governor appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
State Sen. Mallory McMorrow has built her U.S. Senate campaign around a simple argument that speeches aren’t enough.
The post McMorrow touts results, but records show a more complicated picture appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.
In this episode
According to the team, there were few surprises during this year’s filing deadline. One development that stood out to Oosting was Republican James Hooper entering the race against U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib.
“James Hooper announced that no one filed, so he was going to give it a go,” Oosting said. “It’s good for a candidate to have at least one challenger. Rashida Tlaib is a lock for reelection, but what if something happens?”
The 13th congressional district in Detroit probably had the biggest news with Detroit City Councilwoman Mary Waters jumping into the race to challenge Shri Tanadar. Oosting said Waters jumping in may take votes away from state Rep. Donavan McKinney who was already running. “For [McKinney] to be successful you need a small primary field. Mary Waters getting into the race complicates things”.
The party primary elections will be held on August 4th.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
The post MichMash: Recap of the 2026 filing deadline and Democratic state endorsement convention appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
Login