Kamala Harris is back on the campaign trail — and she’s starting in Michigan with a Democrat who hasn’t always agreed with her.
The former vice president made her first major midterm campaign stop Tuesday alongside Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed in Detroit.
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The two sat down for a roundtable on Black maternal health, where Harris made a direct pitch for El-Sayed.
“His will be a voice, Abdul’s, that is a voice representing the people of this state,” Harris said. “And it will be a national voice.”
El-Sayed is trying to bring Democrats back together after a divisive primary exposed some deep splits within the party.
He faces Republican Mike Rogers in November for the open seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters.
Democrats need to hold Michigan and pick up at least four Republican-held seats to take control of the Senate.
Some Democrats keep their distance
Harris has more midterm stops planned after Michigan, including Nevada, California and Georgia.
But some Democratic candidates have made clear they don’t want her campaigning with them.
The New York Times reports that Senate candidates in Alaska, Iowa and Kansas have publicly said they don’t want her campaigning with them.
Asked about those candidates in an MS Now interview, Harris said, “I support them in doing whatever they need to do to win.”
Harris and El-Sayed have differed
El-Sayed, however, welcomed Harris to Michigan.
That doesn’t mean the two have always agreed, particularly over Gaza.
El-Sayed has been a vocal critic of U.S. military support for Israel.
Harris was part of the Biden administration that faced intense pushback over its Gaza policy, particularly from Arab American voters in Michigan.
“My disagreements with the then-vice president’s positions on Gaza are clear,” El-Sayed said. “And I still disagree with the position on which she ran in 2024.”
But El-Sayed said those disagreements shouldn’t prevent Democrats from working together on issues where they agree.
“That’s what a mature politics looks like,” he said. “And we can have our positions, our differences. I endorsed Vice President Harris for president. And I endorsed her, because I understood that Donald Trump would be worse.”
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