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Obama to rally for El-Sayed in Detroit ahead of key US Senate race
Good afternoon and welcome to a rare weekend edition of the Guardian’s US politics live blog.
We are coming to you live as US midterm elections draw closer and candidates are jockeying fiercely to win the hearts, minds and votes of the American people.
As part of progressive Abdul El-Sayed’s effort to do just that, he’s added Democratic star power to his rally lineup tonight in Detroit: former president Barack Obama will take the stage and offer his support to the Senate hopeful.
This rally falls on the first day of Michigan’s in-person early voting period and 10 days before election day.
Stick with us as we bring you the latest news from the rally and beyond.
Key events
With just 10 days until the US midterm elections, early voting data is rolling in nationwide.
As my colleagues Shrai Popat and Lucy Campbell reported yesterday, that data shows:
1. Turnout is surging in key battleground states
As of Friday afternoon, more than 23 million Americans had already voted in person or by mail. Among the key battleground states, Michigan and Ohio have each passed 900,000 ballots cast, while Georgia has recorded almost 1.5m early votes, North Carolina more than 1.2m, Florida almost 2.2m and Texas more than 2.8m, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab, as of 23 October.
2. Those early votes are pacing well ahead of 2022
Early voting is soaring compared with the last midterms in many of the battleground states, which will decide control of the Senate.
3. Democrats lead in early returns
Registered Democrats account for 45% of early ballots cast, compared with 30% from Republicans (tracking returned ballots, not candidate selection). The party gap is particularly pronounced in North Carolina, Kansas and Iowa – all states that traditionally favor Republicans.
4. Mail-in voting remains resilient
More than 57m mail-in ballots have been requested or sent nationally – greater than the 52m requested in 2022 – according to NBC News, using data from TargetSmart. The University of Florida’s Election Lab has the figure for mail-in ballots requested at more than 59m.
Here’s their full report:
Trump votes in midterm elections from West Palm Beach, Florida
Donald Trump voted in West Palm Beach, Florida today, telling reporters at the polls that he voted straight Republican on his ballot. Trump has historically mailed-in his ballot rather than voting in-person.
Speaking from the polling site, Trump defended an ad from Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, his administration’s lawsuit seeking to block certification of the Alaska Senate race if Repubican senator Dan Sullivan loses his race and the war in Iran.
Jason Wilson
The man who recently attempted to ambush the Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed with a question about his supposed allegiance to the Muslim Brotherhood – which El-Sayed parlayed into a viral clip for his campaign – is the son of a political operator who recently received $250,000 for “canvassing and influencer marketing” against El-Sayed, the Guardian has learned.
In the now-famous exchange, a man – first identified by the Handbasket as Thomas “Tommy” Teepell – asked El-Sayed if he would “disavow” the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Sayed said he would, but then asked: “What are you implying? Do you assume that I wouldn’t?” What followed was a five-minute exchange that has drawn over 50m views across several social media platforms, in which El-Sayed queries the man about the guarantees of religious freedom in the constitution.
Teepell is the son of Timothy “Timmy” Teepell, a longtime strategist for the Missouri Republican senator Josh Hawley as well as former Republican Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal. Timmy Teepell’s firm, Breakthrough LLC, was paid $250,000 on 29 September by America Next, a 501(c)(4) non-profit with which it shares a Baton Rouge office suite, according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
The El-Sayed rally in Michigan is under way with members of the state’s Democratic party speaking in advance of Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed and former president Barack Obama.
Speaking after House of Representatives candidate Christina Hines, current senator Elissa Slotkin said, “When Barack Obama comes to Detroit, Democrats win.”
Slotkin noted that the Obama’s visit was well timed, with Donald Trump expected to visit Michigan tomorrow, and JD Vance visiting later this week.
Trump continues his midterms campaign blitz in Georgia
While Barack Obama and Abdul El-Sayed have Democrats’ attention locked on Michigan today, Donald Trump is slated to speak today in Georgia.
The president is expected to announce that the car company Audi will build a new plant there, which is expected to produce 200,000 SUVs annually, Reuters reports.
My colleague Joseph Gedeon is attending the rally for Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan today, where he says thousands are in attendance. Joseph will bring us the latest lines directly from the rally.
Analysis: El-Sayed confronts critics head-on as attacks ramp up
Joseph Gedeon
As a candidate positioned at the center of what researchers say are the worst Islamophobic attacks seen since the aftermath of 9/11, many would expect Abdul El-Sayed to simply defend himself and move on.
Instead, the Democratic candidate for US Senate in Michigan has repeatedly demanded those who question his positions on Israel, the Muslim Brotherhood and his faith, explain the premise of their inquiry. Rather than let others put his loyalties on trial, he has tried to put their assumptions on trial.
The clearest example is a town hall exchange from last weekend that has been viewed more than 50m times. A man in the crowd demanded he disavow the Muslim Brotherhood. “Sure, yeah, absolutely,” El-Sayed said. Then: “What are you implying? Do you assume that I wouldn’t?”
His direct approach has yielded a nickname: “Mean Mamdani”, or “Meandami”. While New York City mayor and fellow Muslim Zohran Mamdani wins people over with warmth, El-Sayed goes at his critics head-on. Both have made establishment resistance part of their political identity, but El-Sayed treats confrontation itself as a way to expose what he sees as a rigged political debate.
It is an approach the Democratic establishment doesn’t quite know what to do with.
Barack Obama made his first appearance of the 2026 midterms campaign season today at an earlier event in Cleveland. There, the former president stumped for the Democratic Senate nominee, Sherrod Brown, and gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton.
In Cleveland, Obama sharply criticized Donald Trump, and a recent ad the state’s Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy released in recent days.
“After two years of chaos and cruelty and corruption and incompetence, the likes of which we have not seen in modern times, you get a chance to say enough is enough,” Obama said.
He added that it seemed there was “no line” Ramaswamy was not willing to cross after releasing an ad featuring Acton’s estranged mother, Donna Arthur, accusing the daughter she lost custody of in 1978, after her second husband was charged with raping her then 12-year-old daughter, of lying about her childhood.
Joseph Gedeon
Abdul El-Sayed, a doctor and former Wayne county health director, ran on Medicare for All and a refusal to take corporate Pac money, and was backed by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
He made opposition to US military aid to Israel and criticism of its conduct in Gaza central to his campaign, and has described Israel’s actions there as genocide. Aipac and its allies as a result spent a record-breaking $30m trying to stop him, according to AdImpact.
Barack Obama’s presence matters most in Detroit, where Black residents make up more than three-quarters of the population and where he is still highly popular.
Kamala Harris, the first Black and south Asian vice-president, campaigned with El-Sayed last month, and Obama phoned him after the primary.
Hundreds of people wait to see Obama at El-Sayed rally
Hundreds of Michiganders have gathered outside Cass Technical High School in Detroit, Michigan, where former president Barack Obama will stump for Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed at a rally slated to begin in about an hour.
Obama to rally for El-Sayed in Detroit ahead of key US Senate race
Good afternoon and welcome to a rare weekend edition of the Guardian’s US politics live blog.
We are coming to you live as US midterm elections draw closer and candidates are jockeying fiercely to win the hearts, minds and votes of the American people.
As part of progressive Abdul El-Sayed’s effort to do just that, he’s added Democratic star power to his rally lineup tonight in Detroit: former president Barack Obama will take the stage and offer his support to the Senate hopeful.
This rally falls on the first day of Michigan’s in-person early voting period and 10 days before election day.
Stick with us as we bring you the latest news from the rally and beyond.
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