For years, Bret Abdullah and his brother Richard would walk side by side through Dearborn, following quiet, tree-shaded streets lined with brick bungalows and carefully maintained gardens.
“That’s not something we can do anymore,” Bret told Our News Outlet.
The 64-year-old Christian pastor, who is of Moroccan heritage, plans to vote for Republican candidate Mike Rogers.
“My views are biblically and morally conservative,” he said. “I believe America was founded on Christian principles, so I’ll probably move away from Islamic candidates.”
Richard, meanwhile, is Muslim and intends to support Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, who would make history as the nation’s first Muslim senator if elected.
“We argue quite a bit,” Bret acknowledged.
The brothers’ political split reflects the broader tensions shaping Michigan’s fiercely contested Senate race. The state remains a crucial battleground, divided by religion, culture and economic class.
To prevail, El-Sayed will have to energize Democratic voters in Dearborn, often called the Arab capital of North America, as well as in the Detroit suburb that moved toward Donald Trump two years ago. At the same time, he must keep Republican gains in check across the rural counties that cover most of Michigan’s landmass.
For Lina Mahmoud, a 22-year-old Palestinian American raised in Dearborn, the current political landscape presents a painful and complicated choice
Bret Abdullah, a Christian pastor of Moroccan descent, says he plans to vote for Republican Mike Rogers
Compared with 2020, the Arab-majority cities of Dearborn, Dearborn Heights and Hamtramck moved decisively toward Donald Trump in 2024
Asked what he would say to Arab American voters who were considering staying home, El-Sayed appeared irritated. His brief reply to Our News Outlet was: “I hope they go vote for me.”
That blunt answer came as the candidate faced a particularly difficult political test.
The Arab American Institute estimates that Michigan is home to approximately 400,000 Arab Americans, representing around four percent of the state’s population.
In a race expected to be decided by a narrow margin, that voting bloc could prove decisive—and El-Sayed has little room to lose its support.
Dearborn, Dearborn Heights and Hamtramck all recorded significant movement toward Trump in 2024 compared with 2020. The shift followed intense frustration among some Arab American voters over the Biden administration’s backing for Israel during the war in Gaza.
Winning those voters back will be central to El-Sayed’s path to victory. Yet some Michigan residents describe the Senate contest as a bitter choice rather than a race featuring one clearly superior candidate.
At Shatila Bakery in Dearborn, the scent of clarified butter, roasted pistachios and warm orange-blossom syrup fills the air.
Pastries on offer at Hamido’s restaurant in Dearborn, Michigan, widely known as “America’s Arab-American capital”
Shatila Bakery in Dearborn is filled with the aromas of clarified butter, toasted pistachios and fragrant orange-blossom syrup
Michigan’s Arab American population is estimated at roughly 400,000, about four percent of the state’s total. Omar Azzam, at Shatila Bakery in Dearborn, said El-Sayed is his candidate of choice
Michigan’s Arab American population is estimated at roughly 400,000, about four percent of the state’s total. Omar Azzam, at Shatila Bakery in Dearborn, said El-Sayed is his candidate of choice
An older woman points her tongs at trays of Knafeh, golden shredded pastry over melted cheese, and Awameh, fried dough drenched in rosewater syrup.
‘Try both before you decide,’ she offers in a thick Lebanese accent. ‘You can’t tell by just looking at it.’
But, with no option to try before you buy, as far as 22-year-old Lina Mahmoud, a Palestinian American born and raised in Dearborn, is concerned her political choice requires something of a leap of faith, with neither option appealing.
‘It’s like the lesser of two evils, but they’re both evil,’ she said of the broader political landscape.
Mahmoud is casting her ballot for El-Sayed because she sees him as someone who listens ‘rather than take [voters] money to fund a genocide outside of the country.’
Mahmoud is referring to the US tax dollars being spent in Gaza.
The ongoing war there reverberates here, but Dearborn, indeed Michigan, is far from monolithic. Beneath the surface, religious and cultural frictions run deep.
A familial divide is one that encapsulates both the highly competitive United States Senate campaign between El-Sayed and Rogers and the state of Michigan itself – a critical battleground fractured along religious, cultural and class lines
Michigan is far from monolithic – beneath the surface cultural and religious frictions run deep
For longtime East Dearborn resident and retired teacher Andrea Ungur, 62, changing demographics have brought local tensions directly to her doorstep.
Living in a neighborhood which, she said, is now overwhelmingly Muslim, she recently petitioned the city council against the broadcasting of the daily Islamic call to prayer.
‘Twice a day they play this very loud,’ Ungur said. ‘We want to be able to worship… but not to force it on others.’
Ungur is voting for Rogers, seeking a return to smaller government and stricter border controls.
‘I know a lot of people who are voting for Mike Rogers because they think he’s the person to turn things back around in Michigan,’ she said.
Rogers is hoping that sentiment is quietly washing over communities in an increasingly challenging political environment for Republicans.
The former congressman has aggressively pushed outreach into Middle Eastern communities across metro Detroit and Dearborn.
Campaigning heavily in suburban civic halls, Arab-owned small businesses and Chaldean church community centers, Rogers is pitching a platform centered on economic deregulation, traditional family values and tough foreign policy.
Hesham Shehab is a former Lebanese Muslim Brotherhood fighter turned Lutheran pastor who has ministered in Dearborn for two decades.
Shehab argues El-Sayed is walking a ‘precarious tightrope,’ trying to court Shia voters by remaining quiet on denouncing the Iranian regime to secure votes, while navigating his own Sunni background.
Students pose for a photo for Our News Outlet outside El-Sayed’s campaign event
When asked directly what his message was to Arab American voters who say they might not cast a ballot for him, El-Sayed offered only a curt response to Our News Outlet
Hesham Shebab is a former Lebanese Muslim Brotherhood fighter turned Lutheran pastor who has ministered in Dearborn for two decades
El-Sayed has responded to critics by maintaining that his campaign is focused on domestic priorities and American foreign policy rather than intervening in internal foreign conflicts.
The economic pressures ripple across the state, touching every demographic.
In Macomb County, a historic political bellwether, Jeff Borja, a retired history teacher who owns the Revita CBD shop, voted for Trump in 2016 but is now throwing his support behind El-Sayed.
‘I didn’t like what he did in his first term,’ Borja, 59, said of Trump, pointing specifically to the lack of a peaceful transfer of power in 2020. ‘To me, that was embarrassing.’
Now, Borja is strictly voting on policy. He views El-Sayed as the candidate focused on domestic economic relief and sharply criticizes Republican economic proposals.
‘The only people that suffer from tariffs are the citizens of this country,’ Borja noted.
Down the road, there’s a voter who should attract the immediate attention of both campaigns.
Stacy Perry, 40, owner of a new Mediterranean Grill, is preparing to vote for the very first time, she just doesn’t know which way.
Stacy Perry, 40, just opened a Mediterranean owner of a Mediterranean Grill, is preparing to vote for the very first time, she just doesn’t know which way.
For longtime East Dearborn resident and retired teacher Andrea Ungur, changing demographics have brought local tensions directly to her doorstep
‘I see the good in both of them,’ Perry said.
Running a restaurant for the past six months, her primary concerns are healthcare and the crushing cost of supplies.
‘Everything has tripled,’ she said. ‘Diesel’s as high as ever right now. Getting product in is a big hassle.’
In Detroit, El-Sayed needs a big share of Michigan’s 1.4 million black residents to turn out and some remain unconvinced.
Though he may simply benefit from being on the opposite side of a deeply unpopular president.
‘Abdul hasn’t catered too much to the black community, but I think he’s a better candidate than Mike Rogers. The reason I don’t trust Mike Rogers is because he’s too supportive of Donald Trump,’ said Denise Macon, 73, a former General Motors worker and black voter.
‘The gas prices because that affects everything… It has a domino effect, especially diesel. Everything is going to go up,’ she said.
Asked if El-Sayed can turn things around, her endorsement is far from ringing: ‘Well, we have more confidence in him than Rogers.’
In Macomb County, a historic political bellwether, Jeff Borja, a retired history teacher who owns the Revita CBD shop, voted for Trump in 2016 but is now throwing his support behind El-Sayed
El-Sayed also needs a big share of Michigan’s 1.4 million black residents to turn out and some remain unconvinced
El Sayed addresses supporters at Michigan University, October 23
Macon’s hesitance highlights El-Sayed’s ongoing challenge to fully mobilize Black voters in places like Detroit.
To bridge that gap, Democrats have brought out their biggest weapon: former President Barack Obama.
Rallying alongside El-Sayed at Detroit’s Cass Tech High School last week on the first day of in-person early voting, Obama made a direct push to drive turnout in the majority-Black city.
Urging the crowd not to succumb to cynicism or sit out the election, Obama repeatedly countered audience frustration with a simple mantra: ‘Don’t boo – vote.’
Framing the election around shared values and baseline character, Obama urged voters to elect ‘serious people,’ while El-Sayed leaned into Obama’s own historic legacy.
Whether that push will prove decisive remains to be seen.
A new MISEN poll shows El-Sayed leading Rogers by about 6 percentage points.
The new report details El-Sayed gaining serious momentum among independent voters and young people as election day looms around the corner.
There is no perfect candidate, of course. For many voters from Dearborn to Detroit, it’s about finding the one they can stomach.
Pastor Abdullah will await the results over his family’s favorite comfort food, mujadara, a warm mix of lentils and wheat.
What worries him most is that a muddled result will leave his state as closely divided as it’s been over the past decade.
‘My concern is the margin,’ he admitted quietly. ‘If the margin’s very close, I’m concerned about our country. And it will be.’
