It’s hard to pack a barn full of people in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, but Abdul El-Sayed made a run at it.
More than 500 people showed up to support the Democratic U.S. Senate candidate at the U.P. State Fairgrounds in Escanaba. It was the first stop on a three-event day that culminated in a 1,200-person rally in Marquette that evening.
El-Sayed has spent the better part of a year in barns, union halls, and kitchens in towns big and small across the state.
The goal is to pick up some support among independents and disenchanted conservative voters.
El-Sayed spent some time in the barn urging his followers to forgive their family and friends who voted for President Donald Trump and instead look to the future.
“We’ve got to be willing to invite them to a decision they have yet to make,” El-Sayed said. “We have an opportunity to build our country, not just watch it get torn down.”
That’s a tall order. 60% of U.P residents – Yoopers – voted for President Trump in 2024.
Rallygoer Andre Brown says he’s already started having those conversations and has noticed some changes.
“Back when Biden was president, it was like, ‘Oh, this is all Joe Biden and the gas prices,’ but they're pretty quiet right now. They just complain about it,” Brown said.
Bart Stupak was the last Democrat to represent the U.P. in the U.S. House, choosing not to run for reelection in 2010. He endorsed Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) in the Democratic primary but believes El-Sayed’s messaging can resonate with Yoopers.
“Just showing up helps him tremendously to try to connect with not just Democrats but all the voters, even those Republicans who are disenchanted with the party right now,” Stupak said.
That face time is important.
Yoopers have a healthy skepticism for outsiders, according to Republican State Representative Karl Bohnak.
He’s well known here. Before entering politics, Bohnak was a meteorologist on WLUC-TV for about 30 years.
Bohnak has already made up his mind about the U.S. Senate race. He’s backing Republican former Congressman Mike Rogers.
“I don't pay much attention to Abdul. I don't even really know what his message is,” Bohnak said. “I think he wants something like Medicare for all, but the only question I would have is who's going to pay for that? Plain and simple.”
Healthcare is an issue in the Upper Peninsula though, with many having to drive 100 miles or more to see a specialist or give birth.
Data from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services show that nearly 1-in-3 U.P. residents are enrolled in Medicare, with 7% without insurance altogether.
Bohnak says people in the U.P. don’t like extremism in their politics and energy policy looms large.
“The Democrat Party has gone way left, and I think that has made an opening for someone who's a centrist like myself, who wants again reliable, affordable energy, who is talking about the bread-and-butter issues like jobs,” Bohnak said.
El-Sayed agrees to an extent and this trip to the U.P., as well as another last June, helped shape his perception.
“Yoopers are common sense, thoughtful people, and they don't like paying more in gas than they need to. Don't like paying more in groceries and they don't like being taken advantage of by a billionaire from New York,” El-Sayed said.
Again, that notion of an infiltrating outsider with El-Sayed referring to President Donald Trump there. El-Sayed is Michigan born and raised.
That hasn’t stopped attack ads alleging - without evidence - that El-Sayed has ties to terrorism. They’ve been running since before the primary election.
“I think some of these commercials are thrown up there by these third parties are unbelievable to the point where I say that can't be true. So, it makes you do your research,” said New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
She accompanied El-Sayed on the U.P. tour and told rally goers it’s just another way to distract voters from the issues.
“They want to make this man look very big and scary on television, because what they think and what they're betting on is that if they can make you scared of him, then that means you won't listen to him,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
Still, those ads have an impact even with people who are skeptical of them.
Stupak’s electoral success came in-part because he was a former state trooper and one of the last pro-gun, anti-abortion Democrats to be elected.
“The problem with El Sayed is he said things like ‘defund the police’…which really get the ordinary Northern Michigan voter more than concerned,” Stupak said.
El-Sayed told WDET-FM in 2020 that he approved of defunding the police in the sense of eliminating the reasons why people turn to crime and getting rid of police killings. The comments came in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota.
Stupak isn’t going to vote for Republican Mike Rogers, but he’s not entirely sure about his vote for El-Sayed.
“I would have voted by now, but I just want to see how this plays out a little bit more,” Stupak said. “Yeah, I'm a Democrat, but that doesn't mean I vote for every Democrat that shows up on the ticket.”
This story is part of a series previewing major local races in the 2026 midterm elections. Click here for more of WEMU's local election coverage.
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