Abdul El-Sayed’s primary win proves the power of many over the power of money

(RNS) — Eight years ago, Abdul El-Sayed, an epidemiologist and public health official, announced his run for governor in Michigan following the rise of the Flint water crisis and months after President Donald J. Trump announced (in his first term) the first iteration of the “Muslim” travel ban.

He lost in the Democratic primary — amid racist attacks and conspiracy theories hurled at him — to Gretchen Whitmer, now Michigan’s governor.

At the time, El-Sayed spoke to the Detroit Free Press about being questioned by opponents and critics if a candidate who is a “little bit young, a little bit brown, a little bit Muslim” could win the gubernatorial primary.

But his run for U.S. Senator is a different story.

In the midst of one of the most anti-Muslim and volatile primary elections in recent history, during Trump’s second term and against the backdrop of continuing tensions over the reported genocide in Gaza and the U.S.’s ongoing funding of Israel’s various war campaigns, El-Sayed eked out a narrow Democratic primary victory this week in his senatorial campaign against Rep. Haley Stevens.

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