The Michigan Senate race tells us more about the future of the Democrats and the centrality of antisemitism in our public discourse than the demise of the disgraced Graham Platner in Maine.
This last week, the political world has been focused on events in Maine as the campaign of the Nazi-tattooed Graham Platner crashed and burned in the wake of new sexual-assault allegations. But his exit from the midterms doesn’t eliminate the most dangerous Democrat currently running for the U.S. Senate. Indeed, lost amid the understandable focus on Platner’s disgraceful conduct and churlish withdrawal was the continued rise of another left-wing Democratic Senate hopeful, Abdul El-Sayed, the current favorite to win his party’s nomination for a Michigan Senate seat.
Indeed, El-Sayed’s performance in a debate against his last remaining opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), deserved a lot more attention than it got. He didn’t just pummel his opponent as a creature of the party establishment but depicted her campaign as solely a manifestation of a Jewish plot to buy American elections for the sake of Israel.
As far as the Detroit public-health official is concerned, the main issue in 2026 isn’t the usual Democratic talking points about affordability, the economy or even their laundry list of complaints about President Donald Trump. It’s AIPAC, and he is seeking to make this primary matchup a referendum on its legitimacy and that of the entire pro-Israel community.
Crossing a line