• Former Detroit and Wayne County health director Abdul El-Sayed faces U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Birmingham, in the Democratic primary for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate race.
• U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York came to Detroit on their first stop on a statewide tour rallying El-Sayed supporters.
• El-Sayed and his backers described the upcoming primary as a referendum on corporate influence in American politics.

In their first stop on a statewide swing through battleground Michigan ahead of the state’s Aug. 4 primary, two of the nation’s leading progressives fired up a crowd at the Detroit Opera House to elect former Detroit and Wayne County health director Abdul El-Sayed in his Democratic primary against centrist U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Birmingham.

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, described swings in election outcomes in Michigan as reflective of a political failure to address the needs of the working class.

“But when the stakes are so high, when more people than ever are living so close to the bone, eventually we have to ask ourselves is the answer to our problems to turn to the same playbook over and over again?” she asked at the July 18 rally. “No,” she said with those from the crowd joining her. Ocasio-Cortez never named Stevens, but implicitly criticized her as a status quo candidate. Michigan’s U.S. Senate race is the only contested Democratic primary for a seat in the chamber in which she has made an endorsement.

The race has become a nationally watched litmus test for the strength of competing ideological factions within the Democratic Party.

But U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, began his speech by saying the contest represents more than that. “It is about democracy versus oligarchy, and we are on the side of democracy,” he said. When Sanders mentioned Stevens, the crowd booed, but the senator waved them off, describing the election as a contest not just between two candidates. “This is an election between Abdul and the billionaire class,” he said.

“Democracy is not about billionaires buying an election in Michigan or anywhere else,” Sanders said as he wrapped up his speech, which comes after recent campaign finance reports that indicate Stevens has benefitted from groups with unclear funding sources.

El-Sayed followed Sanders and took the stage to thunderous chants of “Abdul.” During his speech, he did a call and repeat with the crowd on his signature campaign pledge, promising, “Money out of politics. Money in your pocket. Medicare for All.”

El-Sayed talked about his desire to pursue public health as a way to tackle health disparities and excoriated public health management under President Donald Trump’s administration. “Can’t even eat the lettuce,” he said, a reference to the explosive diarrhea caused by cyclosporiasis.

El-Sayed recalled the day he learned U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, would not seek re-election, leaving an open race for his seat. “And I told myself maybe it’s time to go and get a U.S. senator who actually wants to fight,” El-Sayed said. “We got an opportunity in this race to fight for what we need and deserve.” He boasted that he hasn’t taken “a dime of corporate money” in his campaign, which he described as a response to an affordability crisis he said Americans face. To tackle those challenges, he called for a wealth tax on billionaires, banning corporate stock buybacks and targeting corporate monopolies.

He echoed an oft-repeated line connecting U.S. military support Israel as an impediment to tackling domestic issues. “I want my tax dollars in Michigan,” he said.

He cast his campaign as part of a national tradition of Americans coming together across divides to achieve progress. “In this country, we don’t ignore a sordid past, we assure a better future. But this country doesn’t correct on its own,” he said.

The primary has put on display divides within the Democratic Party.

El-Sayed supports guaranteed public health care for all while Stevens wants to see Affordable Care Act subsidies restored and backs a public health care option. El-Sayed has railed against the pro-Israel lobby while Stevens has backing from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. El-Sayed boasts support from the left flank of the Democratic Party while Stevens touts endorsements from more moderate Democrats.

Ahead of the El-Sayed rally in Detroit, Stevens touted her endorsement from the Congressional Black Caucus and highlighted policy priorities aimed at lifting up Black communities.   

More: Outraised by El-Sayed, Stevens relies heavily on murky, outside support

UAW President Shawn Fain echoed other speakers in describing the current political moment as an inflection point for demonstrating the power of the working class. “And the only reason we’re in the position we’re in in America right now is because too many Democrats can’t decide who the (expletive) they want to stand with,” he said, prompting huge applause in the crowd and bringing many to their feet. The UAW has endorsed El-Sayed in the primary.

While the evening seemed to cast the upcoming primary as a kind of referendum on the Democratic Party, Ocasio-Cortez said it’s not.

“I mean I think that primary elections aren’t referendums the party. They are referendums on that community,” she told reporters after the rally.

Stevens and her backers have argued that she is the more electable candidate in November who has the best chance to defeat Republican former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers of White Lake who has Trump’s endorsement.

Dean Dr. Ahmed Radwan of the College of Health Professions at the University of Detroit Mercy is hoping to bring more first-generation students to the private university.

“First gen students need extra care… if you are a first gen, this means that you’re on your own. So we, as a university and as a college have to replace the extra support at home and offer it here for the students,” he says.

Ties to immigrant experience

Radwan was born and raised in Cairo. He moved to the United States about 20 years ago. He previously served as s a professor of physical therapy, and later the the Dean of Health Professions at the Utica University in New York.

He joined the University of Detroit Mercy in 2024.

Radwan says that although he was not a first-generation student in the U.S., he felt similar experiences when he moved to the U.S.

“Everything was new. I had to teach myself how to advise my own children at school, because I have not attended school here in the States… I realized how important it is to offer the extra help that is needed at the University for first gen, if we truly care about them and about their success,” he shares. 

UDM makes plans to help first gen students

He says UDM provides extra help to students. That includes providing students with a faculty advisor, success coaches, and assistance from the Office of Student Support. He says there’s also a peer educator system.

“I think the student has multiple levels of support, not just one or two,” he says, noting that its not only his passion to support first gen students, but also the university’s mission. 

He says the university provides summer camps, starting in middle school, to expose them to different career fields. 

First gen students add to campus diversity

Radwan says there are several first-gen students and diverse students on campus.

“I think it depends on the program, but in certain majors, you will be surprised that diversity represents more than 60% of the class,” he shares.

Offering options

Radwan says many minority families expect their first-gen children to pursue specific careers, but he says there are more options. 

“Families, especially families coming from the Middle East, they have a preference towards their children being physicians, engineers, lawyers, but there are other health professions that could be even more successful as a career,” he says.

One of those fields is nursing, due to the national shortage.

He says the College of Health Professions and Catherine McAuley School of Nursing offers several programs. It’s an option for students who want to shift another field, “and quickly help them a career shift to nursing to become nurse,” he says.

Radwan explains that these programs are also designed for foreign-born students who need to transfer their skills and work credentials. 

The program is offered at the Novi campus, and will be offered in Grand Rapids, in collaboration with Aquinas College campus.

Radwan says the Catholic university welcomes people of diverse faith traditions.