AIPAC Spent Over $30M to Defeat El-Sayed in Michigan Primary, Now Backs His GOP Rival

AIPAC's election arm is back in Michigan's Senate race, this time working to defeat the Democratic nominee it failed to stop in the primary.

Abdul El-Sayed, a 42-year-old public health advocate who led health departments in Detroit and Wayne County, faces Republican Mike Rogers, a 63-year-old former congressman, in a race that will help decide control of the US Senate seat being vacated by retiring Democrat Gary Peters. If elected, El-Sayed would become the first Muslim US senator.

Before reaching the general election, El-Sayed had to survive a primary in which the American Israel Public Affairs Committee backed his opponent, Haley Stevens, with more than $30 million, according to Al Jazeera's reporting. The spending made Israel policy one of the most discussed subjects of the primary. El-Sayed won anyway.

AIPAC did not stop there. Its election arm, the United Democracy Project, has since spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on mailers opposing El-Sayed in the general election and funneled $9 million to a Republican group supporting Rogers, a figure first reported by The New York Times.

The spending tracks a clear policy divide. El-Sayed has accused Israel of carrying out a genocide in Gaza, a position he says echoes findings from major human rights organizations and United Nations investigators. He has also linked US military aid to Israel and the war with Iran to domestic underinvestment, arguing taxpayer money would be better spent on healthcare and infrastructure at home.

Rogers has taken the opposite position, pledging unconditional support for Israel and accusing El-Sayed of caring more about Palestine than Michigan. Rogers also supported Trump's decision to join Israel's war against Iran, while separately calling for an end to that conflict.

The primary fight left a mark beyond the ballot box. Haley Stevens' fiancé has since endorsed Rogers, citing El-Sayed's criticism of Israel's war on Gaza as a reason.

For Arab American organizers in Dearborn, the AIPAC spending and the broader attacks on El-Sayed's faith have become part of the case for turning out voters. Chadi Abdulrazek, a small business owner volunteering for the El-Sayed campaign, told Al Jazeera the stakes go beyond one Senate seat.

"What's on the line is they have to stand up for themselves and say, 'We are part of this country, and we're going to be voting, and we will actually make a change'."

The race is being watched as a test of whether sharp criticism of Israel can win in a swing state, with implications for how Democratic presidential candidates approach the issue in 2028. A Rogers win would hand Michigan's seat to Republicans for at least six years and complicate Democrats' path back to a Senate majority.