California Governor Gavin Newsom is heading to battleground Michigan this weekend to campaign for Democrats, including Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive Senate nominee whose CAIR-linked donations and calls to abolish ICE have already handed Republicans a ready-made attack line.
El-Sayed, a physician and former public health official, edged out Rep. Haley Stevens by a single percentage point in Tuesday's Democratic Senate primary, 48.5% to 47.5%. Stevens had the backing of more than $30 million from AIPAC's United Democracy Project super PAC, outside advertising that outspent El-Sayed's campaign by roughly 11-to-1. El-Sayed cast the money as a liability for his opponent, accusing Stevens of leaning on a "$60 million corporate crutch." The slim margin and lopsided spending gap made the result one of the most closely watched primaries of the cycle.
Newsom endorsed El-Sayed as soon as the race was called Tuesday night and reached out to the nominee directly. His team says the Michigan trip had already been scheduled before the primary. During the visit, which runs Saturday through Monday, Newsom plans to campaign alongside Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who is running for governor, and to meet with Black community leaders, younger Democratic activists, and state legislative candidates.
El-Sayed rejected corporate PAC money during his campaign, but his donor rolls carry their own baggage. Fox News Digital reported that his campaign accepted more than $115,000 from current and former officials and leaders affiliated with the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Among those donors: CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad, who sparked outrage after saying he was "happy" following Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, and Jukaku Tayeb, El-Sayed's father-in-law and a CAIR-Michigan board member.
CAIR has been designated a terrorist organization by the United Arab Emirates and formally labeled as such in Florida and Texas. CAIR rejects those characterizations. The Fox News Digital report has not alleged any wrongdoing regarding the donations, but the association gives Republicans an obvious line of attack heading into November, and Newsom's decision to stand beside El-Sayed this weekend makes it his problem, too.
El-Sayed also supports abolishing ICE and backs Medicare for All. He has drawn scrutiny over past comments on Israel. Stevens, his primary opponent, blasted his positions on the Middle East during the campaign. None of that stopped him from winning, but it gives the eventual Republican nominee material that writes itself.
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said the Michigan primary results were "making it easier on Republicans" heading into November. House Speaker Mike Johnson went further, warning on X that voters must stop the country from being "overrun by Mini Mamdanis", a reference to the progressive wing's growing influence in Democratic primaries.
Newsom, for his part, framed the moment in sharply partisan terms. He posted on X after the primary was called:
"Congratulations @AbdulElSayed on a hard-fought victory! Trump and the GOP are trying everything to rig the rules and silence voters, but they can't stop a Democratic Party united around working people and accountability. On to November! Let's take our country back."
Whether the Democratic Party is actually "united" after a one-point primary decided by intraparty spending wars and sharp ideological divides is a question Newsom's post did not address.
Michigan is the latest stop in a travel schedule that looks less like a governor managing the nation's most populous state and more like a candidate building a national brand. Earlier this year, Newsom embarked on a nationwide memoir tour with stops in New York, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Nevada. He traveled overseas to Switzerland, Germany, and the United Kingdom, where he met with foreign leaders and promoted California's climate agenda. Just weeks ago, he campaigned for Democratic candidates in Nevada, another swing state.
In June, he pledged support for a national billionaire's tax. His political organization has raised more than $1.7 million for Democratic candidates and state parties this year, including roughly $160,000 for the Michigan Democratic Party.
None of this is subtle. A sitting governor does not barnstorm battleground states, tour foreign capitals, publish a memoir, and raise seven figures for out-of-state parties without an eye on something bigger. The 2028 presidential race has not officially started, but Newsom's itinerary suggests he is running the pre-campaign playbook chapter by chapter.
One detail remains unresolved. It is unclear whether Newsom and El-Sayed will appear together publicly during the Michigan visit. A joint appearance would tie Newsom directly to El-Sayed's full platform, including the ICE abolition stance and the CAIR-linked fundraising, in a way that a behind-the-scenes endorsement does not. An arm's-length visit, on the other hand, would raise its own questions about how committed Newsom actually is to the nominee he rushed to congratulate on Tuesday night.
Either way, Republicans will be watching. Cornyn and Johnson have already signaled that they view El-Sayed's nomination as a gift. Every dollar Newsom raises in Michigan, every handshake, every photo, becomes footage for a general-election argument that the Democratic Party has moved further left than the voters it needs to win.
When a governor flies across the country to campaign for a candidate who wants to abolish ICE and whose donor list includes CAIR-affiliated officials, voters are entitled to ask whether the trip is about winning Michigan, or auditioning for something else entirely.
