Every member of the "Squad," an informal left-wing congressional caucus, has endorsed Abdul El-Sayed in the days leading up to Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary. The endorsements from Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, Summer Lee, Delia Ramirez, and Greg Casar, place El-Sayed firmly alongside the party’s most prominent progressive bloc.
Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, was the most recent member of the Squad to endorse El-Sayed, announcing his support on Thursday. "Abdul El-Sayed is showing what it means to run a bold, pro-working class campaign," Casar stated. "House progressives need strong partners in the Senate in order to put money in your pocket, get money out of politics, and win Medicare for All. I’m proud to endorse Abdul."
This bloc of endorsements sharpens the ideological stakes of Tuesday's primary. El-Sayed faces the more centrist Rep. Haley Stevens. While El-Sayed leads Stevens in recent polls, the unified support from the Squad links him to the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, even as he attempts to moderate his image for a general election in a battleground state.
The endorsements also provide Republicans with an early avenue for attack. Samantha Cantrell, regional press secretary for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told Fox News Digital, "The entire Squad has now endorsed Abdul El-Sayed to carry on its radical, socialist, anti-American agenda in the U.S. Senate, and they will be rejected by Michiganders at the ballot box."
Despite the support from the Squad, many of whom have past or ongoing affiliations with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), El-Sayed has sought to distance himself from the organization and the socialist label. In a July interview with The Wall Street Journal, El-Sayed stated, "I'm not technically or practically DSA." He told CNN, "I am not somebody who is a socialist. I believe in capitalism, I just believe that capitalism has to be regulated."
However, El-Sayed has a history of engagement with the DSA. He previously appeared at a DSA fundraising event in Detroit alongside Rep. Rashida Tlaib, then raising approximately $10,000 for the local DSA chapter. Photos from the event showed El-Sayed and Tlaib behind a table with a poster depicting a hand labeled "DSA" choking a snake labeled "capitalism." Between 2017 and 2020, El-Sayed attended and spoke at six DSA events, and organizers have described him as "a longtime friend of Detroit DSA."
Casar, Ocasio-Cortez, Tlaib, and Lee all have current or former DSA affiliations. The unified endorsements from the Squad are seen as bolstering El-Sayed’s standing within the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, while his efforts to moderate his image highlight the strategic considerations for campaigning in a key swing state.