Democrats are facing serious trouble with one of their most important voting blocs in Michigan after Black voters in Detroit accused the party of ignoring their concerns and using them to win elections. Their complaints surfaced as Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed attempts to unite the party following a narrow primary victory. El-Sayed performed poorly in Detroit and several other heavily Black areas that Democrats will need in November.
The voters appeared in a Fox News segment aired on August 23rd, less than three weeks after El-Sayed defeated Rep. Haley Stevens in Michigan’s August 4th Democratic primary. The segment examined El-Sayed’s difficulty attracting Black voters despite winning the statewide nomination by roughly one percentage point. He will face Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers in the general election for Michigan’s open Senate seat.
“We’ve never really been a priority for the Democratic Party overall in politics as a whole, as a Black population,” one Detroit voter said. “It’s just the way that they don’t address our issues, issues that concern actually Black people, especially working-class Black people.” Their complaints go beyond El-Sayed and targets the party’s broader treatment of a constituency that has supported Democratic candidates for decades.
A second voter offered an even more direct assessment in the clip shared by conservative commentator Benny Johnson. “I don’t think any Democratic Party prioritizes the Black vote because it’s always a ploy to get the Black vote, make all these promises,” the voter said. “But once that vote is in and stuff like that, then it’s operation as normal. I will say the Black community feels a little disengaged.”
The Fox News segment shifted from the interviews to El-Sayed’s primary results, emphasizing his poor performance in heavily Black areas. Stevens carried Detroit, Flint, Muskegon, and Saginaw despite losing the statewide contest. Those results exposed a significant weakness for El-Sayed as he attempts to rebuild the Democratic coalition before November.
Those results left El-Sayed with considerable repair work ahead of the general election. Bridge Michigan reported that he failed to carry any of the 15 counties with the state’s lowest proportions of college graduates. His campaign’s strength among younger and college-educated progressives was enough to secure the nomination, but the November electorate will force him to reach voters who rejected him during the primary.
Watch the Detroit voters explain their frustration here:
"*" indicates required fields
Civil rights attorney Leo Terrell, who left the Democratic Party and became a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump, responded by pointing to his own political break with the party. “Why do you think I left the Democrat party?” Terrell wrote. “Black voters have been used by white liberals and now socialists for the last 50 years.”
Democratic leaders have begun trying to close the divide. The Michigan Democratic Party Black Caucus initially endorsed Stevens before backing El-Sayed once he won the nomination, while its chairman, Keith D. Williams, urged the nominee to concentrate on costs affecting Michigan families. “Leave Gaza and all that other stuff,” Williams told Reuters. “Just stay focused on here, right here, right now, because he needs Black voters.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.