DETROIT (AP) 鈥� Michigan Democrats will gather Friday in a show of unity behind their statewide candidates, three days after a bitter U.S. Senate contest highlighted divisions between the progressive and moderate wings of the party.
, a former public health official who establishment-backed Rep. Haley Stevens in a contentious primary for an open Senate seat, will be the most closely watched candidate at the event.
With less than three months before the general election where El-Sayed will face Republican Mike Rogers, the Democratic Party is under pressure to close ranks in a race that will help determine control of the Senate.
鈥淭he things that unite us are so much bigger than the things that divide us,鈥� El-Sayed said in a Wednesday speech.
Former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, a potential presidential candidate who lives in Michigan, is also slated to attend on Friday.
Current Democratic Sen. Gary Peters鈥� left the seat open. Michigan is a perennial battleground state, having voted for President Donald Trump in 2016, Joe Biden in 2020 and Trump again in 2024.
Stevens, who lost the primary by just under 1 percentage point, told CBS News on Thursday she was willing to campaign with El-Sayed.
鈥淲hatever he wants me to do,” she said.
That follows a messy primary campaign that occasionally got personal. El-Sayed told Semafor in early July that Stevens couldn鈥檛 鈥渟tring together two coherent sentences.鈥� In a separate interview, he called Stevens 鈥渢he least capable candidate in America.鈥�
Stevens, in turn, accused El-Sayed of chasing publicity.
鈥淚鈥檓 the only one on this stage who doesn鈥檛 have a talent agent trying to pitch me for paid speeches,鈥� she said during a debate against El-Sayed. 鈥淎nd unlike my opponent, I鈥檓 not running at the first mic or camera I see.鈥�
Gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson, who easily , is scheduled to attend the event as well. She will face Trump-backed Rep. John James in the general election.
Also slated to attend will be Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, who is running for secretary of state; Eli Savit, who is running for attorney general; and Curtis Hertel, chair of the Michigan Democratic Party.
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