USA27 October, 20263 min read
Polls Show Abdul El-Sayed Leading Mike Rogers In Michigan U.S. Senate Race
“why do so few of these pieces point out that Israel has grown deeply unpopular among Democratic voters”
“Meanwhile, the Senate race appears much tighter, with Democrat Abdul El-Sayed leading Republican Mike Rogers 48% to 45.5%.”
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
El-Sayed leads Rogers inMichigan Senate polls. Marist poll: 52-45 registered; 50-48 likely in El-Sayed's favor.
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Michigan Senate Race Tightens
Michigan voters in a WDIV/Detroit News poll asked in a 600-sample, live-operator telephone survey conducted on Oct. 19 through Oct. 22, 2026 showed Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed leading Republican Mike Rogers in the U.S. Senate race.
“Meanwhile, the Senate race appears much tighter, with Democrat Abdul El-Sayed leading Republican Mike Rogers 48% to 45.5%.”
The poll found El-Sayed had 98.7% name recognition with 42.2% favorable and 44.8% unfavorable, while Rogers had 96.8% name recognition with 32.2% favorable and 49.2% unfavorable.
The same poll asked who voters would vote for if the election were held today, and it showed El-Sayed at 51.4% versus Rogers at 45.1%, with undecided at 3.6%.
The poll also reported that the margin of error was +/-4.0% with a 95% level of confidence, and it said 15.0% of respondents were called via landline telephone and 85.0% were called on a cellphone.
A separate Michigan State University Institute for Public Policy and Social Research State of the State survey released Monday showed Democrat Jocelyn Benson leading Republican John James 53.3% to 40.9% among likely voters in the race for governor, while it showed the Senate race tighter at 48% for El-Sayed versus 45.5% for Rogers.
Debate, Israel, and Narrative
In the final televised debate for Michigan’s Senate race, GOP candidate Mike Rogers used his closing remarks to argue that Jewish Democrats were supporting him because they view Dr. Abdul El-Sayed as “too extreme” on the subject of Israel.
Rogers told the audience, “Jewish Democrats who are afraid for their children when their daughters can’t wear their Star of David walking across Michigan’s campus, these are real,” and he added, “My opponent’s rhetoric, his vitriol, is having consequences.”
The WLNS 6 News report on the MSU poll said Islamophobia may also be a factor, and it quoted the institute saying, “About 38% of voters say a Muslim candidate would make them less likely to offer support.”
The same MSU institute release said those voters were much less likely to support El-Sayed, and it also described Trump’s unpopularity among voters as a “headwind” for Republican candidates.
The Lansing State Journal also framed the race as narrowing, saying El-Sayed continued leading Mike Rogers in the upcoming U.S. Senate race, with Election Day just over one week away and voters choosing between El-Sayed and Rogers on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026.
What Comes Next
With Election Day set for Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, the Lansing State Journal said voters will choose between Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers to replace retiring Democratic senator Gary Peters.
“Voters will choose between El-Sayed and Rogers in the Nov. 3 midterm election.”
The Lansing State Journal reported that an Oct. 15-18 Marist Poll showed El-Sayed leading Rogers 52% to 45% among registered voters and 50%-48% among likely voters, and it said the margin of error was ±4 percentage points for registered voters and ±4.3 percentage points for Michigan likely voters.
The same article said the closest gap came in an Oct. 21-22 InsiderAdvantage poll, with 47% supporting El-Sayed and 46% supporting Rogers, with a margin of error of ±2.83 percentage points.
The ClickOnDetroit poll also provided a methodological backdrop for the race, stating that the poll was commissioned by WDIV and the Detroit News and conducted by The Glengariff Group, Inc. as a 600-sample, live-operator telephone survey.
The WLNS 6 News report said the MSU institute’s survey showed Benson outperforming El-Sayed among independents, Wayne County residents, Catholics, Black voters and ideological moderates, while it said voters under age 30 were the exception with El-Sayed outperforming Benson in that age group.