Midwest
Fierce Israel critic launches Senate bid in Michigan high-stakes 2026 midterm race
A former Michigan public health official and Democratic candidate for governor entered the race for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat on Thursday in what could be one of the most watched races in the 2026 midterm elections.
Abdul El-Sayed, 40, is the second Democrat to put his name in the running to replace Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, who is not seeking reelection.
El-Sayed, a prominent figure in a movement that was highly critical of support for Israel in the 2024 election cycle, aims to set himself apart from the other Democratic candidates in the race to replace Peters, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow.
McMorrow has said she would vote against Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., retaining his leadership position should she prevail in the primary and general election to represent the battleground state in the upper chamber of Congress.
However, El-Sayed held back criticism of Schumer.
“Anybody who tells you that they’re going to unilaterally oppose one potential candidate without knowing who the alternative is, is either unnuanced or unsophisticated,” El-Sayed told Politico. “So I want to know who is available, who is actively seeking the leadership. I’ll make a decision from there.”
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Michigan Democratic then-gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed campaigns with support from New York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at a rally on the campus of Wayne State University on July 28, 2018, in Detroit. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
“What we need right now is somebody who’s willing to take the fight directly to Trump and Musk, but then also knows how to rebuild a version of our federal government that better serves working people after the carnage that Musk and Trump are going to leave behind, and I think I offer that,” he told Politico.
Other Democrats considering a run to replace Peters include U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.
El-Sayed was active in the “uncommited movement,” a group of anti-Israel, traditionally Democratic voters in Michigan, a critical swing state, who threatened to withhold support from then-President Joe Biden, and then then-Vice President Kamala Harris, over the administration’s stance on Gaza. He did say he would back whoever was the eventual Democratic choice for the presidential ticket to oppose now-President Donald Trump, according to Politico.
The Israel-Hamas war exposed deep divisions within the Democratic Party last election cycle, and there is concern the conflict could again make for a messy Senate Democratic primary in Michigan if the American Israel Public Affairs Committee intervenes. The powerful pro-Israel lobby group financially backed Stevens in 2022, when redistricting forced a competitive primary run against fellow Democrat, Rep. Andy Levin.
“Everybody is unified around leadership that reminds the Democratic Party that we ought to be the party of peace and justice, that we ought not to be the party sending bombs and money to foreign militaries to drop bombs on other people’s kids in their schools and their hospitals, when our kids need more, our hospitals and schools need more, and we should be spending that money here at home,” El-Sayed told Politico.
Abdul El-Sayed speaks during a coronavirus public health roundtable with presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday, March 9, 2020. (Erin Kirkland/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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El-Sayed ran for governor in 2018 as a progressive Democrat and was endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
He came in second in the Democratic primary, losing to Gretchen Whitmer by more than 20 points and beating now-U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar by more than 12 points. Whitmer went on to win the general election and is in the midst of a second term. She cannot run again because of term limits.
A resident of Ann Arbor, El-Sayed recently served as director of the Department of Health, Human and Veterans Services in Wayne County, home to Detroit. Before that, he was the public health director of the city after it declared bankruptcy in 2013.
El-Sayed cautioned Democrats against learning the “wrong lessons” from their defeats.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders participates in a coronavirus public health roundtable with healthcare professionals, including Abdul El-Sayed, left, as he campaigns on March 9, 2020, in Detroit. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
“If you cut corners and trim your message, and you triangulate to the least common denominator, you can find something that’s perfectly inoffensive to everyone, and the problem with that is that you’re not actually saying anything,” he told Politico.
El-Sayed said he met with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Tuesday. He told Politico that it was his “understanding” that the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm would not get involved in the primary. If that happens, that deviates from how the DSCC previously acted to clear the field of potential primary candidates to make for an easier primary victory for then-Rep. Elissa Slotkin. Now-Sen. Slotkin, D-Mich., easily won the primary over Hill Harper, and then won the general election.
El-Sayed is also the second candidate this week to launch a campaign to replace Peters. On the Republican side, former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers launched his bid on Monday after losing the Senate race last year by 19,000 votes to Democrat Slotkin.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Mikey Laser allowed only four hits in Detroit Catholic Central’s win for Div. 1 championship.
Mikey Laser allowed only four hits in Detroit Catholic Central’s win for Div. 1 championship.
East Lansing — This gave a whole new meaning to the term “triple threat.”
Detroit Catholic Central’s offense was humming during Saturday’s Division 1 state baseball championship game against Rochester Adams on the strength of triples.
Lots and lots of triples.
Catholic Central set a championship game record by hitting five triples, which helped catapult it to a 7-0 victory over Adams in the all-Oakland County title game at Michigan State’s McLane Stadium.
It was Catholic Central’s first state championship in baseball since 1999 and finished off a terrific state tournament run after Catholic Central lost to Warren De La Salle in the semifinals of the Catholic League tournament on its own home field.
“What a game right there,” Catholic Central head coach Ryan Rogowski said. “What a hitting performance. I’m telling you, can we hit the ball or what? Them Shamrocks can hit.”
While the offense was sending balls to the wall, Catholic Central was also good at preventing runs thanks to senior Mikey Laser, who limited a powerful Adams offense to just four hits, or one triple fewer than Catholic Central’s lineup produced.
“I was just trying to get ahead with first-pitch strikes,” Laser said. “Just get the ball to my defense and I know they’ll make plays.”
Adams (29-9) was making its first appearance in a championship game since 1996, when it lost in the Class A championship game a second year in a row.
This year’s coach, Andy Lamkin, is in his second stint at the helm of the program and was the head coach of those teams that lost in the 1995 and 1996 championship games.
Thirty years later, Adams hoped to do one better than those teams and claim its first title, but couldn’t get the offense going against Laser and Catholic Central.
“We haven’t done that all year long,” Lamkin said. “You’ve got to give him a lot of credit. He pitched fast. When we did hit the ball hard, it was at people. They outhit us. They took it to us at the beginning and nobody has done that to us this year.”
The triple-barrage for Catholic Central started on the first pitch of the game, when senior Bennett Thompson laced a rope to the gap in left-center.
The next batter, senior Dylan Fairchild, duplicated the feat, hitting his own shot to left-center for an RBI triple that made it 1-0 Catholic Central.
An RBI groundout by Nicholas Garnick put Catholic Central up 2-0 in the first.
With two outs and two men on in the second, Fairchild hit another triple, this time scoring two runs to give Catholic Central a 4-0 lead.
The score stayed that way until the fifth, when Thompson hit another triple to start the inning and then scored on a wild pitch to give Catholic Central a 5-0 lead. Catholic Central then took a 6-0 lead on an RBI single by Cam Swearingen. Junior Jaxon Gatt put Catholic Central up 7-0 in the seventh on a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded.
Keith Dunlap is a freelance writer.
MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee County sheriff’s deputies arrested a woman suspected of firing shots during a family picnic at Lake Park on Saturday, June 13.
Lake Park investigation
What we know:
FOX6 News found the law enforcement scene on Lake Park Road, just off Lincoln Memorial Drive, at the park’s northern end on Saturday night.
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The sheriff’s office said they were called there at around 6:25 p.m. After deputies secured the area, they investigated and learned there was an argument during a family picnic. A woman who was at the picnic “stormed away” and fired two shots through her sunroof as she drove off. No one was injured.
Law enforcement activity at Lake Park on June 13.
Witnesses gave deputies a description of the woman’s vehicle. They then went to a home tied to the vehicle’s license plates, where they found the vehicle and the woman.
The woman, a 36-year-old from Milwaukee, was taken into custody. Deputies found a shell casing from the vehicle, which appeared to match another that was found at the crime scene.
What we don’t know:
The sheriff’s office said the woman is in custody pending criminal charges, but it’s not clear at this time what those charges would be. The incident remains under investigation.
Editor’s note: The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office issued a correction to its initial report, which claimed deputies found a gun in the woman’s car. It was also updated to reflect new details about the suspect’s identity.
The Source: FOX6 News went to the scene and requested information from the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office.
On Saturday, people gathered at Bethune Park in Minneapolis to celebrate Juneteenth.
“The energy is electric. Everybody out here is having so much fun,” said Andrew Kuria, who was helping his aunt, a vendor.
Fun with meaning and a purpose of celebrating a holiday close to many hearts.
“Juneteenth,” said Imani Waters, who was singing at the event. “Emancipation, and Black people just being able to celebrate our history.”
Community organizers started the Minneapolis tradition in 1982, filling a gap at a time when many didn’t know about the holiday. The Minneapolis Park and Recreation board hosted Saturday’s event, featuring music, food and vendors like Mary Kuria, who’s originally from Kenya.
“Since I’m from Kenya, I thought I could find some people to make stuff for me and then I can bring it here,” said Mary Kuria, who owns Shiro’s African Boutique.
The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture says although the Emancipation Proclamation freed African Americans in rebelling states Jan. 1, 1863, it wasn’t until June 19, 1865, when it was actually fully enforced with the Union army.
“We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the African Americans who were brought here as slaves,” said Mary Kuria. “They actually made a stepping stone for a lot of us, especially Africans, to be able to come here.”
When it comes to 2026: “I think we’re doing better. I think we can improve in certain areas. I know we have a lot of grey areas, but hey, there’s always room for improvement,” said Karla Nelson, who attended the event.
“We’ve come a long way and we have a long way to go,” Waters added.
“It’s a reminder that change can happen,” Andrew Kuria told WCCO.
Juneteenth became a federally recognized holiday in 2021. Minnesota followed suit in 2023, giving the day off to state workers. Wisconsin does not.
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