Michigan Democrats packed a Detroit union hall Sunday to make their closing pitch to organized labor, with gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson and U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed headlining a get-out-the-vote rally just six days before the state’s early voting window opens. The event unfolded at the Detroit Union Carpenters and Millwrights Skilled Training Center, with Michigan’s November 3 general election bearing down fast.
The rally was hosted jointly by the Michigan Democratic Party and the Northern Midwest Regional Council of Carpenters, according to Michigan Advance. Benson, who serves as Michigan’s secretary of state, told the crowd she felt optimistic about Democratic chances and pledged to keep fighting for workers’ rights if elected governor. She faces Republican nominee John James, a U.S. representative from Shelby Township, in Michigan’s first open-seat gubernatorial race in eight years.
Benson argued that tariffs and the war in Iran are cutting jobs and driving up prices, and she vowed to protect jobs and lower costs if she wins the governor’s office, per the same report. Her remarks came just three days after she and James met for their second and final debate at WDIV studios in Detroit, where the two sparred over economic affordability, corporate tax incentives and public school funding, according to WDIV Local 4.
El-Sayed Leans Into Pro-Union Message Against Rogers
El-Sayed positioned himself as the pro-union candidate in his Senate race against Mike Rogers, a former U.S. representative and Republican candidate from White Lake. El-Sayed said he would seek conditions that allow union organizing in every sector of American life and pledged to stand with workers against corporations that try to dictate terms, the Michigan Advance report states…