Abdul El-Sayed — Abdul El-Sayed holds press conference after winning the Democratic nomination for US Senate

Uh, I'm Curtis Hertel, I'm the chair of the Michigan Democratic Party. Uh, it has been a long night. But, it's also been a long 2 years for the people of Michigan. The people of Michigan were promised by this president that their wages would go up, that their prices would go down, that they'd be tired of winning, that there'd be no more foreign wars, the Epstein files would be released, and all of that has been a lie. And what I can tell you is the energy, the enthusiasm, and the fight is on the Democratic side. >> [cheering] [applause] >> Yesterday was the highest turnout for Democrats in the history of A MICHIGAN PRIMARY. >> [applause and cheering] >> AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, OVER 500,000 more Michiganders voted in the Democratic primary than in THE REPUBLICAN PRIMARY. >> [applause] >> WE HAVE A GREAT TICKET. OH, Jocelyn Benson, our current Secretary of State who has fought for our voting rights, will be our NEXT GOVERNOR. >> [applause] >> DANA NESSEL, WHO'S BEEN BOTH A prosecutor and a fighter for against corporations that have poisoned our water, will be our NEXT ATTORNEY GENERAL. >> [applause] >> GARLIN GILCHRIST, WHO HAS BEEN AN amazing Lieutenant Governor who has fought to end uh, Republican rule in Lansing and has passed the largest tax cut for working families in history, about 30,000 kids OUT OF POVERTY. >> [cheering] [applause] >> AND ENDED THE FIRST STATE IN 70 years to end right to work, passed the largest investment in a in education, the largest investment in housing, will be our next Secretary of State. >> [applause and cheering] >> AND AFTER LAST NIGHT, A FIGHTER, a true fighter, and that is what people want. Abdul El-Sayed will be our NEXT US SENATOR. [cheering] >> [applause] >> IT'S BEEN A LONG CAMPAIGN ACROSS Michigan and a huge turnout of excitement. But what's important is the Democrats are united. >> That's right. >> We are united in the fact that every person deserves health care IN THIS COUNTRY. >> [applause] >> WE are united in the fact that the cost of living is too high for American families. That it is ridiculous that a family has to decide between the cost of prescription drugs and the cost of of rent or housing. Whether they can decide whether they can afford to take that vacation or even send their kids to college. It has become impossible to raise a family in Trump's America. And so we have got to work together to take THIS COUNTRY BACK. >> [applause] >> AND I CAN TELL YOU WHAT WE NEED IS A FIGHTER and a public servant. >> That's right. >> Whether it is in the Detroit Health Department or the Wayne County Health Department, Abdul El-Sayed has been a fighter for the people over and over again. HE HAS STOOD UP TO CORPORATIONS and made sure that that that the people are always at the front of the line when it comes to their needs. And we juxtapose that against Mike Rogers. Mike Rogers served in the US Congress, left there and enriched himself from the work that he had done. Made millions of dollars on the backs of people fighting for corporate greed over and over again. He moved to Florida, and then he decided to move back to Michigan when he decided he wanted to be a US Senator. The people of Michigan said no 2 years ago and they are going to say no again in 2026. [applause and cheering] AND WHAT I CAN TELL YOU IS THAT I'M proud as the chairman of this party, we have a very diverse ticket, but most importantly what we have is a ticket of fighters. And we are proud to have Abdul El-Sayed added to this ticket. We are excited to say that he will be the next senator HERE IN MICHIGAN. >> [applause and cheering] >> AND NOW I GET TO PASS IT ON TO ANOTHER FIGHTER. I I got to serve with Mallory McMorrow in the Senate. She has been one of the best fighters for Michigan. Someone who has always stood up. Someone who knows how important this election will be. Somebody who helped get us a trifecta to change Michigan for the better for people. My friend, State Senator MALLORY MCMORROW. >> [cheering] [applause] >> GOOD MORNING, MICHIGAN. Good morning. Uh did everybody get a little bit of sleep last night? Doing okay? I'm State Senator Mallory McMorrow and I am so proud to be here this morning. It is an exciting morning in Michigan. And I know that this was a long and brutal primary. Take it from me, I lived through it personally. But what is most important now is that we recognize that for all of the differences we may have had in this primary, that those differences pale in comparison to the contrast that we face in November. Now, in pure Michigan fashion, I had made a commitment earlier that no matter what happened in this race that I was going to endorse the nominee the minute the race was called and that I would be at their party. Well, Michigan decided maybe we're not going to the parties last night. So, this morning with all of you, this is the party. This is the start of a celebration of all of us coming together. Now, I want to say to my supporters, to the supporters of Congresswoman Stevens who fought hard, and to the Congresswoman herself, thank you. Thank you for putting your name on a ballot. Thank you to everybody who volunteered. Thank you to everybody who organized. Thank you to everybody who poured your heart and soul into these campaigns for almost the last two years. We need all of you, all of us, to stay in this fight every minute going forward cuz I can promise you that today Mike Rogers and Donald Trump are looking at Michigan and they're hoping that these family fights that we had, the disagreements within the Democratic Party, are the fights that we're going to retain through November. They will be hoping that we are either too hurt because we are our candidate lost or too proud because our candidate won to not be willing to reach across and bring somebody in or just to be too sad to move forward. Well, this morning are we ready to show the rest of the country what Michigan IS MADE OF? ARE WE [applause] READY TO SHOW THE REST OF THE country [cheering] what it looks like when Michigan FIGHTS [applause] AND WINS? >> [cheering] >> ARE WE READY TO DO IT ALONGSIDE a fellow girl dad, girl parents? [cheering] And I just want to give a huge amount of credit. I mean, look, this is an ugly business sometimes and I just got to meet Sarah Abdul thinking about our girls and the future that it's going to mean for them in this state and in this country. That's why I'm here today. I know that we share a why. I know that we all care about making a better future for our kids. And that is why I could not be more proud to introduce you to now officially the Democratic NOMINEE TO BECOME THE NEXT UNITED States Senator from the great state of Michigan. [cheering] Please join ME IN WELCOMING ABDULLAH SAYED. >> [cheering] [applause] >> I JUST WANT TO SAY HOW GRATEFUL I AM to my colleague Senator McMorrow, Chairman Hertel, to all of our incredible supporters here. Um what a race. You know, in the words of Muhammad Ali, we shook up the world. And I I want to say just first and foremost, um how grateful I am for the opportunity to participate in democracy. Now, my family immigrated to this country from a place where there is not democracy. You cannot just put your hand up and run. And the ability to do this, to have our voices heard, to select our leaders, it is it is a gift that sometimes we take for granted. So, to have participated means so much. And to my fellow participants, I just want to say how grateful I am to you. Senator McMorrow, you ran an incredible race. You fought to end the corporate corruption in our politics. You took on the power of AIPAC. You were willing to speak truth to a level of power that sometimes uh is unbeatable. And I just want to want to say thank you uh and how grateful I am um to have your support here today. Uh I cannot wait to see what you do next. And I hope that uh for as long as uh I'm in this work that we can be in this work together. THANK YOU. >> [applause] >> TO MY COLLEAGUE AND FRIEND, CONGRESSWOMAN Haley Stevens, we shared a great conversation this morning. And I know that it was a a bitter uh end to this very long primary. But, I also know that Haley brings uh the best of herself to her work. She is one of the most committed public servants that you'll ever meet. Uh she loves democracy like I love democracy. And whatever differences that we might have had in the primary, they pale in comparison to what unifies us. A recognition that so long as we want to keep our democracy that democracy better be working for people. And that all of us have to come to to come together to make sure that we never let Mike Rogers see the inside of the US Senate. So, Congresswoman, thank you >> [cheering] >> FOR YOUR FIGHT. >> [applause] >> AND I HAVE TO SAY A FEW MORE THANK YOU'S BEFORE we talk about where we're going next. First, I got to thank my wife, Sarah. >> YEAH! >> [cheering] >> I UM I REALLY WHEN WHEN we when we decided to jump into this race, I knew that it was going to be tough for me, but I also knew that it was going to be particularly tough on our family. And uh uh the fact that she held it down alongside her medical practice, alongside uh making sure that our daughters didn't experience this without thinking life was just normal. Um that takes just an extraordinary amount of effort and uh sacrifice. So, I just want to say how grateful I am to you, love, and I'm I'm so so um honored and thankful that we we get to continue this. 20 years on has been a hell of a ride. Uh I owe her a 20th anniversary on our 21st anniversary cuz we definitely didn't get one of those this year. To my daughters, um I know that they're not watching uh but, you know, I I wish this this meant I get a little bit more time uh with you, but um give me 3 more months. To uh everybody who put their shoulders into the work, anybody who made a contribution, who knocked on a door, who made a phone call, who put yourself into this democracy, who gave us your stake in democracy, this movement, this moment is for you. And I just can't say how grateful I am to have earned the votes that we got. Uh we took on a machine. You're not supposed to be able to beat $70 million of outside spending. A record amount of money spent in a campaign against a Democrat in a primary in any campaign. You're not supposed to be able to beat that. And what we showed is that the power of our many is greater than the power of their money. What we showed is that if you're willing to build a movement brick by brick, if you're willing to go and travel your state and have the conversations in rooms big and small, starting in moments when people aren't even paying attention to an election, but are paying attention to the price of gas, and the price of groceries, and the price of housing, and the price of health care, that you can build a conversation that builds into a movement that defeats Goliath. This is what you all showed. And my hope is that our democracy will never be the same. So, when Big Pharma and Big Tech, when DTE and Blue Cross come a knocking saying, you know what? This is our democracy and we're going to own it. From here on out, we can always point and say, no, this is the people's democracy and we will always own it. >> [applause] >> This would not have been possible without the incredible efforts of so many allies and allied organizations. I got to give a special thank you to my first endorsers, Bernie Sanders, the OG who came in on day one, put his entire shoulder in the work. I just hope that I can help to carry some of that load in the fight for working people and Medicare for all that he's been carrying for all of this time. To the UAW, the undefeatable, indomitable UAW. [cheering] >> [applause] >> As a son of immigrants, son of a father who came to this country to build cars, I got to say that this is still the best place in the world to make an automobile and that is because of the fighting UAW, but it's also the best place in the world to build a family because of the fighting UAW. >> [cheering] >> And our work is about making sure that the folks who want to sell our democracy off to corporations and special interests don't get to take that away and I stand in lockstep with our UAW sisters and brothers. To the AFT, the National Nurses United, the AFGE, the AAUP, thank you so much for your work to all of the advocacy organizations who made this possible on the ground. Folks like the PCCC and MoveOn, folks like the Working Families Party, all of the constituency organizations who knocked on doors and made phone calls. Thank you so much for putting your shoulder into the work. I also have to thank all of our endorsers, 300 strong, who came in, spent their time with us, came from just down the street or came from across the country to talk about what it looks like to build a movement of the people, by the people, and for the people. I want to say how grateful I am to you. We built this campaign brick by brick. Back in April, I remember talking to a room of five people. In a discussion that most people will never clock, but it was an opportunity for us to share a honest conversation about pain and about purpose. And I've been able to have 500 more of those discussions over the past 15 months. I trained to be a doctor, and the single most important moment that makes a clinical encounter is that moment that somebody shares their pain with you believing that you could do something about it. I don't practice medicine as has been well documented by all of you. But I hope that I get to practice that part of things. And I've been able to practice it, but it requires people being willing to share their pain with you so that you can do something about it. That is a moment, a piece of vulnerability people give you because they believe that you can actually fix it. It's an investment, sure, in a campaign, but it more is an investment in democracy. And as we traveled our state, we were in living rooms in Lansing, VFW halls in Escanaba, basements in Grand Rapids, churches in Detroit. I got to meet so many of you, Michigan. So many. And you shared both what caused pain, but also what brought purpose. And we forged a movement out of that to get money out of politics, put money back in pockets, and pass Medicare for all to guarantee health care in this country. >> [applause] >> And for our troubles the corporations, the special interests who would rather get to decide who our elected officials are than let us decide who our elected officials are, they spent an unprecedented amount of money to beat us. Attack ad after attack ad after attack ad after attack ad. Wall-to-wall ads. But it turns out that the commercials are the part of the television show most people don't want to watch. It turns out that you can spend as much money as you want on lies, but it doesn't make them true. It turns out that when you're able to reach out and dignify somebody's pain, people remember that a lot more than a 30-30 second ad played on a loop on television. And it turns out that when the people want something in this democracy of ours, the people can get that thing if we're willing to do the work of that. And that's exactly what Michiganders up and down the state showed. 12,000 volunteers knocking nearly 10,000 doors a day to defeat an unprecedented amount of outside money. $70 million. Woo! But right now, as bitter and as divisive and as cynical as the campaign against us might have been, I want us to realize that there is so much more that unites us now. Because the campaign that Mike Rogers and Donald Trump and their GOP MAGA allies are launching is already more bitter. All you got to do is look at the ads you're already watching on TV started today. You know, they think they want to use my whole name against me. Mike Listen, man, if you can't say the name, it's Abdulrahman, keep the name out YOUR DAMN MOUTH. >> [applause] >> I'LL BE HAPPY TO GIVE YOU LESSONS. BUT THEY UNDERSTAND THAT THE ONLY way that they think they can win is to drag us into the mud, to believe the worst about each other, to believe that what divides us is bigger than what unites us. They want us to think that the reason some of us ain't got is because of other people got. But it turns out that the reason so many of us ain't got is because of the system that has corrupted our politics to take it away from us. And that is the thing that we are taking on now. That movement to get money out of politics, put money in your pocket, pass Medicare for all, it is a big movement. So if you supported me or you did not support me, if you voted for Vice President Harris in 2024 or you voted for Donald Trump, if you believe like me that you ought to be able to afford your groceries, if you believe like me that you ought to be able to afford your home, if you believe like me that your tax dollars ought to be invested in you rather than sent somewhere else, if you believe like me that a government of the people, by the people, and for the people is our birthright in this country, if you believe like me that we have a responsibility to stand up and walk with our unions so that everybody has collective bargaining rights in this country, if you believe like me that you ought to have the guarantee of good health care in this country without some corporation trying to tell you what you cannot have and should not fight for, I hope that you'll join this movement now. >> [applause] >> I want to speak specifically to an issue that has been focused on in this race. To my Jewish American sisters and brothers, one of the most indelible memories of this campaign will have been the opportunity to break bread with you at Seder, to worship with you at shul, to embrace to be embraced by you. And listening to sisters and brothers who said, you know, I want to join this movement because AIPAC doesn't speak for me, because I understand that self-determination for one people does not require the quenching of self-determination for another people. That unless all of us are free, none of us are free. I want to tell you the great gift that you've given me. And to all of my sisters and brothers of the Jewish faith or any faith at all or no faith at all, I want you to know that my commitment to your safety, my commitment to Jewish safety is the same commitment that I have to the safety of my own daughters. Because if there is one question of a political philosophy that ought to animate us all is what would we build, what would we do if we treated all of our kids like they were all of our kids? How would we spend our money? >> [applause] >> Where would we put our investment? How would we embrace one another? What kind of schools would we build? What kind of health care would we offer? What kind of jobs would we protect? And I say this because there could not be a greater contrast between that philosophy and the cynicism of Mike Rogers. See, Mike's a guy who spent 14 years in Congress with one goal, to figure out how to cash out the day he left. And guess what he did? As soon as he left Congress after having taken corporate check after corporate check after corporate check to empower the corporations to pick your pockets, he went and he cashed out. Not in Michigan, no. Winters are too cold for him. >> [laughter] >> He's got thin skin after all. He went to Florida. So, Mike, if you want to be a Florida man, go be a Florida man. If you want to golf in Florida, go golf in Florida. But I promise you in November we are going to send you BACK TO FLORIDA. >> [cheering] [applause] >> MIKE ROGERS IS THE GUY WHO WANTS TO PUT A DATA center in your backyard so he can make himself feel a little bit more manly by making an AI video. Mike Rogers is the guy who has never shied away from a DTE check so he could turn his face in the direction of Florida. Mike Rogers is the guy who will do anything Blue Cross Blue Shield wants him to do including raise your rates. Mike Rogers is the guy who introduced legislation to increase the flow of opioids. He did that while I was in high school. Mike Rogers is the guy whose politics and vision and perspective are old. Mike Rogers is the guy who has never shied away from a corporation he could do a favor for. Mike Rogers is the guy who believe it or not went back to Florida so he could lick every single boot Donald Trump owns to beg for his endorsement. I'm so sorry. If you want a senator who's going to lick some boots, fine. Go vote for Mike Rogers. But if you want a senator who's going to stand up to Donald Trump, then you've got your OPTION RIGHT HERE. >> [cheering] >> WHAT WAS FUNNY ABOUT MIKE ROGERS IS THAT HE'S like the worst of all versions of the Republican Party. Right? He's the worst of the neocon version. I mean, he was in the house during the entirety of the Iraq war. He left cuz he got tired of it. And then he swore up and down he could never support Donald Trump until of course he was licking Donald Trump's boots. So now he carries the burden of both of those things. Is he MAGA? Is he neocon? No, man. He's just a corporate sellout. >> [applause] >> So Mike, I'm going to say it right here. I know you're going to say no cuz you're a coward. Five debates, all right? If you're willing to stand with [cheering and applause] me and have a conversation, you you and I both know that you will wither in front of your own crimes. But I'm going to make sure Michiganders know about them. Cuz by the time we're done, you are not going to have safe quarter from people holding you accountable to what you've done for them here in Michigan, we will send you back to Florida where you belong. Five debates. I'm hoping for an answer today. It'll be a lot of fun, my guy. >> [applause] >> But I want to finish here cuz it's not about Mike Rogers. It's not even about Donald Trump. It is about who we are as a country. I worked in that building right there. In fact, you can see the window of my former office. And there are moments I had to pinch myself because my story in America is about as unlikely as it gets. But for an accident of history that allows my dad to immigrate to Detroit to go to Wayne State University, I was supposed to be a cab driver in Egypt like my cousins. I would spend a lot of my childhood summers in Egypt. I I'd spend them there with a front row seat to what my life should have been. Except for I got to be born in America where I got vaccinated against diseases that killed an aunt and uncle I never got to meet. They died before their first birthday. I got to go to amazing public schools, an incredible public university. I got my medical education paid for by a public agency at the NIH. That's what America gave me. Now, the crazy thing is I grew up not 20 minutes from here. And in traveling 20 minutes, I traveled a 10-year life expectancy gap. I got to meet kids who never got the opportunities I got despite the fact that their families had been here far longer than me. I know what America gave me, but I also know what America continues to deny to many of her own children. And a lot of my work in that building right there was about trying to address exactly that. And I kept running up against one thing. The kind of politics that tell us that we cannot invest in those children because we should be sending their money to deny rights to other children abroad. A politics that tells us that the corporations should do what they can and the rest of us do what we we must. A politics that tells us that our democracy is there for the taking if you have enough money to take it. And so when the opportunity to run for US Senate came up, I realized that this was a fight not just against Mike Rogers and Donald Trump. It was a fight for the kind of America that can give what I had to all of her children. That is the work in front of us. This country of ours, this America of ours is more than a flag. It's more than a set of colors. If you're a patriot then you better fight for an America that is America for all of her kids. That's what this is about. Building a movement to take our democracy back to serve the people who absolutely deserve the best of what America has to offer. That's the commitment all of us are making. So whether you voted for me or voted for my opponent or didn't vote at all, we're inviting you to that movement to get money out of politics so we can put money back in pockets and finally guarantee the promise of health care through Medicare for all. And I'm so honored, so honored for all of the folks who've already invested. To all the folks who haven't, I cannot wait to meet you and let's go win in November. >> Woo! >> [cheering]