The state's Aug. 4 primary is just around the corner, and the Democratic race between Abdul El-Sayed and Congresswoman Haley Stevens is tight; according to an average of polls complied by Real Clear Polling, El-Sayed leads Stevens by 1.6 points (45.3% to 43.7%).
Stevens represents a more moderate Democratic approach, favoring incremental reforms to ICE, maintaining traditional alliances with Israel, and emphasizing electability and legislative experience.
El-Sayed represents the Democratic Party's progressive wing,
Critics describe him as a far-left candidate because he supports policies such as Medicare for all, abolishing ICE, significantly raising taxes on the wealthy, canceling medical debt, reducing U.S. military aid to Israel, and shifting some public safety responsibilities and funding away from police departments.
He has received endorsements from progressive figures like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and support from Justice Democrats and the Democratic Socialists of America. El-Sayed's close ties to anti-Israel advocacy, including his repeated referral to Israel's military campaign in Gaza as a "genocide," concerns conservatives.
Robert Spencer, director of Jihad Watch, says El-Sayed's polling shows just how much the Islamic invasion has affected Michigan.
"Some migrants have taken it over," he tells AFN. "This was entirely predictable because Islam is political, and so when you bring in large numbers of Muslims, they're going to be seeking political power, and they're going to exercise political power beyond their numbers."
But Spencer says those who sounded the alarm were ignored or denigrated.
"So now we're in the situation where there is a whole state — Minnesota is another one — where the Muslim community is essentially in the political driver's seat," he summarizes. "Even if they don't have an absolute majority, there's still enough of an organized, energized vanguard that they exercise effective political power over the whole state."
Though Michigan remains a true swing state, the current political landscape suggests presumptive Republican nominee Mike Rogers would enter a general election as a slight favorite, and Republicans hope he can beat whichever Democrat comes out on top.
Still, Spencer says the Islamic influence will have massive consequences and reverberations throughout the culture and the political realm.
