{"id":16079,"date":"2026-07-24T21:23:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T16:23:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=16079"},"modified":"2026-07-24T21:23:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T16:23:32","slug":"el-sayed-warns-that-outside-groups-are-trying-to-buy-a-vote-in-the-u-s-senate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=16079","title":{"rendered":"El-Sayed warns that outside groups \u2018are trying to buy a vote in the U.S. Senate\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/twt-thumbs.washtimes.com\/media\/image\/2026\/07\/19\/Election_2_26_Michigan_3_133_s1440x959.jpg?38ee4b81f9b4ccf2a99f00d05e55ab87790d4572\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/abdul-el-sayed\/\">Abdul El-Sayed<\/a> said Friday that more outside money has been spent against him in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/michigan\/\">Michigan\u2019s<\/a> Democratic senatorial primary \u201cthan ever\u201d has been spent against a candidate, warning that allies of Israel, Big Pharma and AI are trying to buy the Senate seat.<\/p>\n<p>Just over a week before his Aug. 4 primary showdown with Rep. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/haley-stevens\/\">Haley Stevens<\/a>, Mr. El-Sayed is hammering home his argument that the race is boiling down to the \u201cmoney versus the many.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said more than $58 million has been spent on behalf of Ms. Stevens, with the lion\u2019s share coming from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/american-israel-public-affairs-committee\/\">American Israel Public Affairs Committee<\/a>, the most powerful pro-Israel lobby in Washington.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have withstood more outside spending against us in a Democratic senatorial primary than has ever been spent against any candidate in the history of candidates, and if that doesn\u2019t drive a contrast, I don\u2019t know what does,\u201d Mr. El-Sayed said at the Detroit campaign rally. \u201cThese special interests and corporations know exactly what it is that they\u2019re trying to buy. They are trying to buy a vote in the U.S. Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/aipac\/\">AIPAC<\/a> and its affiliated groups have sunk close to $30 million into backing Ms. Stevens \u2014 their largest investment in a single race.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/aipac\/\">AIPAC<\/a> says its mission \u201csupports pro-Israel Democratic and Republican candidates for Congress\u201d and provides its members a platform to \u201chelp pro-Israel candidates defeat anti-Israel challengers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr. El-Sayed has become symbolic of a growing divide inside the Democratic Party over U.S. support for Israel, a split that has sharpened during the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n<aside>\n<\/aside>\n<p>There also has been a more gradual shift among the broader electorate. Gallup polling found earlier this year that political independents now say they sympathize more with the Palestinians than the Israelis, breaking with \u201call prior years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a major reason the race between Mr. El-Sayed and Ms. Stevens is widely viewed as the biggest proxy fight left on the primary map between the party\u2019s insurgent left wing and its more centrist forces. And it\u2019s drawing extra attention because it\u2019s unfolding in a perennial battleground state with a large Arab American and Muslim population \u2014 a dynamic that could shape the 2028 Democratic presidential primary, where the party\u2019s left wing wants to show its message, including on Israel, resonates beyond deep-blue enclaves.<\/p>\n<p>The winner of the primary will face former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, and the victor in November will replace retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Stevens has argued her politics are more reflective of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/michigan\/\">Michigan<\/a> as a whole, making her the most electable Democrat in the race.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. El-Sayed insists that is a bogus argument, saying she would not need so much outside help if it were true. He also says <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/aipac\/\">AIPAC<\/a>, its allies and corporate America will be happy as long as Ms. Stevens or Mr. Rogers wins the seat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know why?\u201d he said Friday. \u201cBecause either of them would be a reliable vote on all of their priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr. El-Sayed said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/michigan\/\">Michigan<\/a> voters deserve a senator who will stop corporate stock buybacks that divert money away from wages and \u201cguarantee its own people healthcare rather than send our money somewhere else to drop bombs on other people and their schools and their infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Stevens has endorsements from Mr. Peters, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York and Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, the longtime Democrat whose support helped revive President Biden\u2019s embattled primary bid in 2016.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. El-Sayed is backed by Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and the United Auto Workers.<\/p>\n<p>                        <a name=\"pagebreak\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Polls show the race is tight.<\/p>\n<section class=\"author-contact-section\">\n<\/section><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Abdul El-Sayed said Friday that more outside money has been spent against him in Michigan\u2019s Democratic senatorial primary \u201cthan ever\u201d has been spent against a candidate, warning that allies of Israel, Big Pharma and AI are trying to buy the Senate seat. Just over a week before his Aug. 4 primary showdown with Rep. Haley&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16080,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/twt-thumbs.washtimes.com\/media\/image\/2026\/07\/19\/Election_2_26_Michigan_3_133_c0-191-4615-2883_s1200x700.jpg?ff7dd44be503d97b2ed661cbb251a9dcac9e6e30","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}