Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed (D.) is distancing himself from the Democratic Socialists of America, insisting he is "not technically or practically" a member of the radical group. But El-Sayed has been a markedly enthusiastic DSA supporter for years as he rose through Michigan's progressive political scene, repeatedly appearing at socialist events, including headlining a 2019 DSA fundraiser at which the group's Detroit chapter called him "a longtime friend."
At that event, which raised $10,000 for the chapter, a beaming El-Sayed was photographed arm in arm with a bevy of grinning socialists, including Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.)—a DSA member who belongs to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's (D., N.Y.) far-left "Squad"—in front of a Marxist-style pamphlet depicting a red DSA fist choking a snake labeled "CAPITALISM." Other prominent signage includes vintage-style union posters with a union slogan, "Solidarity has no borders," in Arabic calligraphy. Another poster on the wall behind Al-Sayed said "DETROIT DEMANDS A GREEN NEW DEAL," an environmental initiative championed in Washington by the "Squad."
El-Sayed spoke at five other Detroit DSA events between 2017 and 2020.
His fundraising for the DSA and his other appearances for the group shows he has maintained far more intimate ties to the socialist organization than his recent comments imply.
"I am not somebody who is a socialist. I believe in capitalism, I just believe that capitalism has to be regulated," he told CNN when asked about similarities between his platform and DSA's.
His allies have likewise sought to draw a distinction. "Abdul El-Sayed is not DSA-affiliated, but he's a progressive fighter," said left-wing activist Hasan Piker, who campaigns alongside El-Sayed and has featured the candidate on his popular Twitch show.
El-Sayed's efforts to minimize his ties to the DSA comes as he faces Rep. Haley Stevens, a moderate, in the August 4 Democratic Senate primary. While DSA-backed candidates have recently scored victories in deep-blue New York City, Philadelphia, Denver, and Washington, D.C., an association with the group could prove more politically complicated in a statewide race in Michigan, a battleground state that voted for Donald Trump in 2024. Republicans have already portrayed El-Sayed as "too radical for Michigan," citing his past calls to defund police departments, his anti-Israel statements, and his affiliations with influencers like Piker, who has said that "America deserved 9/11."
El-Sayed has faced growing questions about the DSA as the group recently shifted resources to Michigan to help his Senate campaign. And El-Sayed has long maintained close ties to DSA luminaries like Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.).
"I'm not technically or practically DSA," El-Sayed told the Wall Street Journal last week when asked about the group.
It's not the first time El-Sayed has downplayed his radical ties during the Senate campaign. He recently told the Detroit News that he "actually never, never called for defunding" police departments. But CNN reported that El-Sayed said in a June 2020 interview with Detroit Public Radio that "we do need to defund the police."
El-Sayed, who calls himself a progressive, first appeared at a DSA event on April 1, 2017, when he addressed a Metro Detroit DSA membership meeting during his gubernatorial campaign. He headlined the April 19, 2019, Detroit DSA event with Tlaib that invited DSA "comrades." He spoke at DSA events on Medicare for All on June 29 and Nov. 6, 2019, and a February 2020 Green New Deal event that advertised Sanders as a speaker.
He also headlined the Metro Detroit DSA's Oct. 5, 2019, Douglass-Debs Dinner, alongside Tlaib, where tickets ranged from $40 to $750. Promoting the event—where El-Sayed posed with Tlaib surrounded by socialist pamphlets and posters—the chapter hailed El-Sayed as "the one and only Dr. Abdul El-Sayed" and described him as a "longtime friend of Detroit DSA."
Days later, the Detroit DSA rolled out its "Socialist Night School," promoting the program with a pamphlet featuring Karl Marx.
While El-Sayed pushes many of the same ideas of DSA, there is growing evidence that his lifestyle is far more lavish than the rank-and-file socialist.
El-Sayed claimed $680,000 in household income for 2025, including nearly $300,000 in capital gains earnings, according to his IRS filings, putting him in the top 1 percent of income earners. El-Sayed has also been spotted wearing luxury wristwatches, some that cost up to $3,000, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
El-Sayed has also faced criticism from fellow leftists after the Free Beacon's report that his wife, a psychiatrist whose income is a meaningful part of his net worth, does not accept any insurance, including Medicare or Medicaid, at her practice. El-Sayed is a leading proponent of Medicare for All and wrote a book of that name in 2021 calling for nationalized health care.
El-Sayed's campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
