DETROIT (AP) — Campaigning in Michigan for Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, former Vice President Kamala Harris said Tuesday that the midterm elections offer a potential “stopgap” halfway through Donald Trump's turbulent second presidency.

And she urged Democrats not to be undone by a bruising primary that saw El-Sayed, a staunchly pro-Palestinian progressive, defeat an establishment favorite in a matchup that echoed Harris' political struggles here two years ago over her support for U.S. military aid in Israel.

“It’s OK to not be in love with a candidate,” Harris told several hundred attendees at an evening NAACP forum. “It’s OK to vote and ask everybody else to vote because this choice is better than that one. That’s what gets you where you need to go.”

El-Sayed did not attend the NAACP event where Harris vouched for him. But she sat beside the candidate earlier Tuesday during a roundtable on Black maternal mortality. That discussion focused on health care policy, with no direct mentions of Trump or the complexities of El-Sayed's effort to stitch together Democrats' disparate coalition in his campaign against Republican Mike Rogers.

“I’m here to support Dr. El-Sayed because on this subject, I know he will be a champion,” Harris said of the medical doctor and former Detroit public health chief.

The broader political significance overshadowed the narrower topic, however, as Harris and El-Sayed grapple with their own policy differences and Democratic Party infighting in a Senate race that will help determine control of the chamber.

El-Sayed needs the first Black vice president's validation in Wayne County, where she remains popular and he faces pressure to attract Black voters who backed his primary rival last month — in no small part because some progressives and Arab Americans in Michigan withheld their votes from Harris in 2024 out of anger that she and then-President Joe Biden supported U.S. military aid to Israel.

El-Sayed has called Israel’s military actions in Gaza a genocide against Palestinians. Israel’s government rejects that characterization. He downplayed those differences Tuesday.

“I think I speak for all of us when I say, ‘Come on back,’” El-Sayed told Harris after the health roundtable.

For the former vice president, who is deciding whether to run for the Oval Office again, the trip reinforced her popularity among Black voters who will hold strong sway over Michigan’s early presidential primary in 2028. And it tested how she would confront lingering effects of her narrow Michigan loss to Trump in 2024.

Harris said at the NAACP event that she understands that some people are still “carrying some pain” about that election. But Black voters, she said, shouldn’t take themselves out of the political process.

“If you want to get elected, you have to come to us and through us,” Harris said. “We have got to turn out the vote in large numbers,” she added to applause. “We’ve got to be too big to rig.”

El-Sayed framed Harris's visit as a party unity effort

Harris and El-Sayed did not take questions together before or after their afternoon event, so they did not have to discuss their previous differences over U.S. policy in Israel.

Earlier Tuesday, before meeting Harris, El-Sayed framed her visit as a demonstration of unity. “We're building an electoral coalition here,” El-Sayed said, emphasizing the two Democrats' shared focus on the economy.

The 2024 election “ended where it did because we could not find the places of agreement to be able to bring people together or move in the direction that we need to move,” El-Sayed added.

El-Sayed said Harris is an essential advocate helping him close ranks against Rogers.

“Her presence here speaking to communities that were really empowered by her voice throughout her political career, I think will help us to continue to bring our coalition together,” El-Sayed said.

El-Sayed vs. Rogers is a critical contest for Senate control

If Democrats hold the Michigan seat, which was opened by Sen. Gary Peters' announced retirement, they'd still need to win at least four more currently held by Republicans to flip the chamber. If Rogers, a former congressman, Democrats' path to a majority would narrow.

Rogers’ campaign framed Harris’ visit as a sign of weakness for both Democrats.

“Abdul is so desperate that he’s parachuting Kamala Harris into Michigan to save his flailing campaign,” said Alyssa Brouillet, Rogers’ spokesperson.

Rogers has been campaigning in Detroit, a predominantly Black city where his campaign is optimistic he can pick up support from voters hesitant to support El-Sayed.

Black voters could prove especially important as El-Sayed also faces pressure among white Jewish voters who typically back Democrats.

“Jews in Michigan are currently scared” by their Senate options, said Barry Goodman, a Democratic National Committee member and major Michigan fundraiser in the party. Goodman backed Stevens in the primary.

The race is also seen as another referendum on progressives' viability in battleground races. El-Sayed is running to the left of the Democratic Party establishment, including advocating for universal healthcare.

Goodman described himself and many other Jewish Democrats as “holding our noses and voting for Abdul” because they “believe in the Democratic ticket and they believe that one man can help win the Senate but can’t destroy the Senate.” Other moderates, Goodman said, are still deciding whether to back Rogers or sit out the Senate race.

El-Sayed has attempted to soften his approach on Israel and Gaza. He has apologized for some past controversial comments and said he is committed to Jewish safety.

Michigan will also be a key state for the 2028 Democratic presidential primary

As she has in recent interviews, Harris gave no indication when she will make an announcement about her 2028 plans. But the NAACP crowd roared when she was asked about her intentions.

Under Democrats' recently revised nominating calendar, Michigan now will hold the fifth presidential preference primary in 2028.

And while Harris did not recalibrate her Israel stance while in Michigan, campaigning with El-Sayed is notable given her past tensions with Democrats' left flank.

“She probably figures she won't lose her establishment folks, so maybe she makes gains to her left,” Goodman said.

Ahead of Election Day this November, Harris also has campaign stops planned in Nevada and Georgia, two other important states on the political map.

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GaNun is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

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Barrow reported from Atlanta.

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