A Democratic star is heading into some of Michigan’s most conservative territory to campaign for Abdul El-Sayed to boost his neck-and-neck Senate race against former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers that could decide control of the chamber, and it could also shape her own political future.
MS NOW reported that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) will join El-Sayed at town halls Thursday in Escanaba, Iron Mountain and Marquette, all stops on his “Shouldn’t Be This Hard” bus tour through the Upper Peninsula.
It's her first trip to Michigan since El-Sayed narrowly beat moderate Rep. Haley Stevens in a bitter August primary that became a proxy war over the party’s direction.
The region is solidly Republican. Michigan’s 1st Congressional District, which covers the Upper Peninsula, went for Donald Trump by more than 20 percentage points in 2024 and has been represented by GOP Rep. Jack Bergman since 2017.
With El-Sayed at the top of the ticket, Democrats are betting that an unapologetic progressive can win a purple state. A progressive House Democrat told MS NOW that the outcome will test the left’s core argument.
“The dog has caught the car here and we will soon find out if progressives are right when they say that a strong progressive candidate can compete in purple places,” the lawmaker said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Ocasio-Cortez has framed the stakes in sweeping terms. “If Abdul can win in Michigan,” she said at a New York City fundraiser earlier this month, according to audio obtained by news outlets, “anybody can win anywhere.”
El-Sayed has been taking his message into hostile territory. On Monday he posted a video from Ionia County, an R+32 area, with a warning for his opponent: “We’re coming for ya, Mike.”
Rogers downplayed his opponent's tour. “He’s gonna go up to the Upper Peninsula and get a pretty cold welcome,” he told reporters last week. “That tells me they are desperate as I’ve ever seen.”
Still, bringing a marquee guest to a region this red suggests the campaign expects real crowds, just 19 days before Election Day.
The visit also comes as Ocasio-Cortez weighs her next move. She told the New York Times last month that after the midterms she will choose among seeking re-election to the House, running for Senate or running for president. Michigan has backed the winner in the past five presidential elections and will hold the fifth contest on the 2028 Democratic primary calendar.
A loss, the progressive lawmaker warned, would “cement this narrative that progressives are bad for the brand in swing states.”