7 News Detroit is sitting down with the Democratic candidates running to fill Senator Gary Peters' open Senate seat. The winner will face Republican Senate Candidate Mike Rogers, who is running unopposed.
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed is one of two people running to be the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan, hoping to win the seat currently held by Sen. Gary Peters.
El-Sayed is campaigning on getting money out of politics and free healthcare for all. I sat down for a one-on-one interview with El-Sayed to ask more about his campaign and vision for our state.
“Jobs and economy, what is your vision?” I asked him.
“The reason that our system seems to be chewing us up and spitting us out, figuring out how to monetize us is because of the role big corporations have had in our politics in the first place," El-Sayed said.
Watch my full interview with El-Sayed in the video below
As a doctor and former Detroit and Wayne County health director, El-Sayed said he's on a mission to stand up to billionaires and large corporations he believes have profited while adding to the rising costs.
“Number one. I don’t take money from those corporations, so I answer to the people. Number two. I aim to regulate them. The biggest danger to capitalism was never government regulation. It was monopoly," he said. “I want to break up the biggest companies and make sure we are enforcing anti-trust policy, and then I believe in unions. The best way to command higher wages is to make sure people have union representation.”
El-Sayed said along with fighting for more jobs, his campaign is laser-focused on free healthcare for all, using existing tax dollars and taxing billionaires more.
“How will that be funded?” I asked.
“One of every $5 we spend in the economy is spent on health care," he said. “We could also couple it with taxing billionaires their wealth. So, we have more money coming to the economy to subsidize the rest of us.”
I asked El-Sayed what he wants people to know about where he stands on education.
“You shouldn’t have to worry about how much money you have to get an education. That includes childcare all the way up until the last day you’re done with your education," El-Sayed said. “Here’s the problem, we are too busy fighting stupid wars that raise your gas prices to $5 a gallon. Then, cutting taxes for billionaires.”
I also asked him about AI data centers and supporting more oversight. He says he's committed to ensuring water resources aren't touched, using union labor and community benefit agreement without raising utility rates.
“I want at least half of their board, to be democratically elected or appointed by democratically elected officials and I want safeguards. They shouldn’t be able to deny your healthcare, make hiring and firing decisions. Shouldn’t be able to fire a weapon," he said.
On tackling division in politics, El-Sayed told me he's optimistic.
“I think there’s probably a lot more bi-partisan consensus if we are willing to raise the conversation and have that conversation with the American public," he said.
El-Sayed also said he wants to see an end to the war in Iran, and to stop the U.S. from funding Israel's war.
“I believe that the Palestinian people and Jewish Israeli people need to come together on equal footing, to decide what the ultimate peace looks like," he said.
On a personal note, El-Sayed said he's been a long-time advocate of fitness, having played football and lacrosse. The proud University of Michigan graduate said his family is his passion, being a husband and a father.
“Any extra time I have is patterned by that beautiful 8-year-old and beautiful 3-year-old, who get to decide what I do with my time," he said.
