Michigan Jewish leaders weigh relations with El-Sayed after divided election
Jewish leaders in Michigan are considering how to work with Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed after an election that divided the state's Jewish community, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported November 5. Supporters celebrated his victory while some leaders who backed Republican Mike Rogers said they needed to build relationships with the incoming senator.
Eli Newell, an organizer with the progressive Jewish group IfNotNow, said El-Sayed's candidacy represented shared safety, equality and justice. The group mobilized volunteers to campaign for him in Jewish neighborhoods. Decky Alexander, chair of the Michigan Jewish Democratic Caucus, said she wanted to include progressive Jewish groups that supported El-Sayed in the caucus's work.
Rabbi Asher Lopatin, who campaigned for Rogers, said he was not retracting his positions but wanted to build relationships with El-Sayed and his supporters. Troy Zukowski-Serlin, a representative of a petition opposing El-Sayed, said its language may have been too strong and that common ground was possible on issues apart from Israel.
The Anti-Defamation League's Michigan chapter criticized what it called El-Sayed's minimization of Jewish fears, while the American Jewish Committee's Detroit chapter alleged that his anti-Israel rhetoric endangered American Jews. Those are the organizations' assessments and allegations, not independently established findings in the report. JTA also reported that outside observers had described messaging from Rogers' campaign as Islamophobic.
El-Sayed's campaign cited a progressive political committee's analysis of voting in heavily Jewish precincts to argue that his support was close to Senator Elissa Slotkin's in 2024. The comparison concerned voting areas, not a direct measure of individual Jewish voters' choices.
Source: Andrew Lapin, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, November 5, 2026. https://www.jta.org/2026/11/05/politics/el-sayeds-senate-election-has-divided-michigan-jews-what-will-bring-them-together
