No race has gotten more attention this election cycle than Michigan’s Senate race. This is especially true within the Jewish community, where conversations about Abdul El-Sayed’s positions on Israel are very live. As we’ve done in the past, I wanted to share with you how Bend the Arc is navigating this race, and why we decided to endorse Abdul El-Sayed after interviewing him last week.

First, examining a politician’s views on any issue is an important part of the democratic process. Bend the Arc is working in Michigan and around the country to bring Jews together across our differences to fight for the domestic policies our communities and democracy desperately need.

But what’s not legitimate is the disturbing trend of using of Islamophobia and anti-Arab bigotry to attack El-Sayed on the basis of his faith and race.¹ The antidote to this trend is to meet Abdul El-Sayed, listen to him in his own words, and assess him accordingly.

Last week, I got to speak firsthand with El-Sayed during Bend the Arc: Jewish Action’s endorsement interview. This interview was scheduled shortly after we received his endorsement questionnaire, where he scored 100% in alignment with our entirely domestic policy agenda on topics ranging from immigration to fighting antisemitism to LGBTQ+ rights.

Here are 3 things we learned in our interview with El-Sayed:

• He grew up in a town where 40% of his high school class was Jewish. El-Sayed shared his experiences going to shul, bar and bat mitzvahs, attending Passover seders, and being profoundly inspired by the call of tikkun olam (repairing the world).
  
  
• His training as a doctor and public health professional drives his politics. Watching our healthcare system fail so many people, and knowing we could do so much better, called El-Sayed to public service. He knows firsthand that policy is a matter of life and death and would be the first Democratic doctor elected to the Senate in nearly 60 years.
  
  
• When we asked about the Islamophobia he’s been experiencing, he said: “This America is big enough for all of us. Michiganders are open-minded and bighearted. They don’t care about who I pray to but what I pray for.”

On the task immediately in front of us, El-Sayed is praying for the same thing I, and many of you reading this email, are praying for: winning pro-democracy majorities in Congress that transform what we can do to stop Donald Trump and his authoritarian agenda.

This election cycle is a critical opportunity for us to defend American democracy, the bedrock of what has made Jews safe in this country for generations.

For these reasons and more, I’m proud that Bend the Arc: Jewish Action has endorsed Abdul El-Sayed.

If you have questions or reflections, feel free to respond to this email. We may not be able to reply to every message, but our team reads each one.

Grateful to have you with us in this fight,

Jamie Beran
CEO, Bend the Arc

1. How anti-Muslim rhetoric is influencing the pivotal Michigan Senate race, The Washington Post