A Michigan Family's Dilemma: Vote for El-Sayed or Leave It Blank

In August, Abdul El-Sayed narrowly won Michigan's Democratic Senate primary over Rep. Haley Stevens. Pre-primary polling suggested Stevens had stronger support among Black Democratic voters, leaving some with a general-election choice they had not preferred. For some voters, the choice carried added weight. Some Black and Arab communities in Metro Detroit have experienced longstanding tensions, and in 2024 some Arab and Muslim voters, angry over Gaza, withheld their support from Kamala Harris, the first Black woman nominated for president by a major party.

So would Black voters leave the Senate line blank, or vote for El-Sayed to keep Mike Rogers out? I asked my own family. This is how my mother and my three sisters, all raised in Detroit and the surrounding area, arrived at their decisions.

A note on method: These are four phone interviews with members of my family, not a poll. Responses have been edited for length, clarity, and readability without changing their intended meaning. Each woman is identified by age range and line of work. These conversations took place before Rep. Haley Stevens, who lost the primary to El-Sayed, endorsed Republican Mike Rogers on Sunday, November 1.

Sister 1

Late 40s, works at a youth shelter. Has voted since she was 19. Plans to vote in person on Tuesday and said she is about 99% sure she will leave the Senate contest blank.

Me: What makes this election different from previous ones?

Sister 1: It's very confusing. I feel like every candidate has their good and their bad, but I haven't been able to find much good about either one. It's left me feeling like I don't want to vote, even though I know voting is very important.

Me: Does it feel like you're being asked to choose between your political principles and your responsibility to help keep Republicans out of office?

Sister 1: Absolutely.

Me: How much of your hesitation comes from 2024?

Sister 1: A lot of it is that no matter who I vote for, they'll somehow get whoever they want in office. The voting process doesn't feel as fair as it once was.

Me: What made you feel that way?

Sister 1: Trump being back in office. I honestly can't believe that happened. And because she was a Black woman, I feel like that made her not a candidate at all to people.

Me: If you believed the election process were completely fair, would you still be struggling?

Sister 1: Absolutely not. I believe in voting. I believe people died for us to have the right to vote. I had never been in this space before. It's like, either I'm voting or I'm not. To be in a place where I'm asking, what's the point of voting? That's sad.

Me: Is leaving the Senate race blank a protest, or has neither candidate earned your support?

Sister 1: Neither candidate has earned my support, and yes, it is a protest. It's my own protest, but it is.

Me: What would you say to family members voting for El-Sayed to keep Rogers out?

Sister 1: I'm not against them voting for who they feel is best. For me, neither one was best, so I chose not to vote for either. I didn't want to participate or go against my beliefs just to say I voted for somebody.

Sister 2

50s, office manager at a doctor's office. Voted by absentee ballot, left the Senate race blank, and voted for Jocelyn Benson for governor.

Me: What led you to leave the Senate race blank?

Sister 2: I don't like either one of them. I've done my research on both of them, and I don't like either one. He talks bad about Black people. He says he doesn't mean what he says, but he said it.

Me: When you say "he," who do you mean?

Sister 2: El-Sayed.

Me: Can you point to something specific he said?

Sister 2: I can't give you anything specific, but I saw things on social media and on credible websites saying he doesn't care about Black people.

Editor’s note: Sister 2 did not identify a specific statement, source, or policy supporting her allegation. The claim has not been independently verified.

Me: How much did the 2024 uncommitted movement influence your decision?

Sister 2: A lot. I feel like a lot of the Dearborn people see it as, not only is she Black, she's a woman. It's a double standard.

Me: If it had never happened, would you still leave the Senate race blank?

Sister 2: Yes.

Me: Do his policies match what you'd agree with?

Sister 2: No.

Me: Can you name a policy or two you disagree with?

Sister 2: I can't think of any right now. I'll look them up tomorrow, but there are a couple I don't believe in.

Me: How would you feel if Rogers won?

Sister 2: I'd be upset.

Me: And if El-Sayed won?

Sister 2: I wouldn't be upset if El-Sayed won, but I don't want Rogers to win.

Me: Is leaving it blank a protest vote?

Sister 2: I don't know who to vote for. When I voted, I left it blank.

Me: If Rogers wins by a narrow margin, will you regret leaving it blank?

Sister 2: No.

Sister 3

Early 50s, works in public service HR in Oakland County. A Democrat for more than 30 years. Leaning toward El-Sayed; had not said whether she had voted.

Me: Why El-Sayed?

Sister 3: I believe his beliefs align closely with mine. There's no set policy until they get in office, but for instance, affordable health care for everyone, his stance on Medicare for all of Michigan. Even if you have private insurance, having access to additional coverage is a plus, because medical costs are skyrocketing.

Me: Is your vote more for El-Sayed's policies, or against Rogers because of his connection to Trump?

Sister 3: Absolutely for the policies. When you asked, I went back and researched both candidates in more depth, and without a shadow of a doubt I'm leaning toward El-Sayed because of the policies he'd put forth. I don't understand why so many Black people are leaning toward Rogers when El-Sayed has said one of his policies would be to empower the Black community, to help small Black business owners succeed inside and outside the community. He realized that there's a lot of racial disparities in our medical field with our mothers and the high rate of our mothers dying after childbirth.

Me: In the primary, did you vote for El-Sayed or Haley Stevens?

Sister 3: Stevens. I've always worked in government and politics, and I worked the Michigan Democratic Convention. I thought his team, not necessarily him, was very aggressive. It saddened me, because we're all Democrats, and it's not one against the other. We had people on Abdul's campaign looking at us crazy, making snide remarks. It was just, it was just a mess.

Me: How did you feel about the uncommitted movement in 2024?

Sister 3: I was disappointed. For too long, as a race, we've let outsiders in our ear without doing our own research. People tend to listen to commercials instead of fact-checking what politicians say.

Me: Anything else you want to add?

Sister 3: Before people decide to leave anything blank, look at the state of our country. I think Mike Rogers and the rest of the Republicans have pretty much trashed him because of his Muslim beliefs, and I don't think religion should play a part. He's not running for a religious position. He's running for the American people, to help people like me and you. No one told JFK to renounce being Catholic. And think about who you want picking the next Supreme Court justices, especially if you have a Black son or a Black family member who's convicted at a much higher rate than our counterparts. People are suffering. People are tired.

Mom

Late 60s, works in early childhood education. Has voted since she was 21 and is a lifelong Democrat. Has not voted yet. Leaning toward El-Sayed after comparing the candidates, but was still going back and forth as of this weekend.

Me: When I texted you, you said you weren't voting for either one. What changed?

Mom: At the time I said I wasn't going to vote for either. But after really thinking about it, if I don't vote, that gives the Republicans more of a heads up than the Democrat. Looking at what they both believe in, I agree with Mike Rogers on some things, but I sided with El-Sayed on more.

Me: What do you agree with Rogers on?

Mom: Some of his education ideas, like putting vocational training back in the schools, which I agree with, because I think a lot of this generation doesn't know how to build, cook, sew.

Me: What about his literacy plan?

Mom: I definitely agree with that. We're behind in education in Michigan, and working with preschoolers, I see a lot of them going on to the next grade and they're struggling.

Me: What gave you pause about El-Sayed in the first place?

Mom: I think it was the ads I was seeing, and not doing research on the ads. As it gets closer to the election, I normally go side by side and see which one I'm most likely to share views with.

Me: What pulled you toward El-Sayed?

Mom: He wants better pay for teachers. I always say teachers are underpaid. He supports pre-K for all, which I think we should have, because that's where it starts. And tuition-free college. I'm still paying on my loan from when I got my master's, and it's ridiculous.

Me: What's the biggest problem you see with children today, and how do you think politicians aren't addressing it?

Mom: If they were addressing it, the first thing they'd look at is the pay. They don't know what teachers deal with: children coming in with all these behavior problems and IEPs, and they have to deal with that for seven hours. But yet the pay is so low. It's hard to get teachers. I think it all starts with the pre-K, though.

Me: Did the history of tension between the Black and Arab communities in Metro Detroit play a part in your thinking?

Mom: No.

Me: Is a vote for El-Sayed a vote against Trump, or are you just weighing the two candidates?

Mom: Just weighing the two of them side by side.

Me: How do you feel about Rogers representing Michigan?

Mom: I don't feel comfortable with Rogers, because I think it's going to get worse before it gets better. With the high cost of gas and food, it's just going to get higher. We don't have a chance if Rogers gets in there, because that's another Trump.

Me: Is it El-Sayed himself who can fix that, or is it Democrats controlling the House and Senate?

Mom: I think Democrats having control of the House and the Senate.

The last word

Four Black women. One Michigan family. The same election, but four different paths to a decision.

Two of my sisters have rejected both Senate candidates. One has already left the race blank; the other says she is almost certain she will.

My third sister and my mother are both leaning toward Abdul El-Sayed, and my mother was still weighing it as of this weekend.

Their conversations reveal something polling numbers alone cannot: the personal experiences, political frustrations, and competing priorities behind a vote—or the decision not to cast one.

If you're facing a similar decision, I'd like to hear how you're approaching it. Leave a comment or send me a message.

Sources: El-Sayed wins Michigan Democratic Senate primary, Bloomberg Government · Ballotpedia on the August 4, 2026 primary · Detroit News/Glengariff poll of the primary, via Electoral-Vote.com · Stevens endorses Rogers, CBS News