Leadership and Experience

Abdul El-Sayed didn’t start out planning to enter politics. He studied to be a doctor, earning his medical degree from Columbia University and a second doctorate from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. However, while working as a public health professor, Abdul quickly realized that it was America’s broken political system that was truly making everyday people sick. Driven by this realization, he has dedicated his career to public service, building and rebuilding government agencies so they actually work for everyday Michiganders.

As the youngest health director of a major American city, Abdul rebuilt Detroit’s Health Department from the ground up following the city’s bankruptcy, successfully eliminating lead from schools and securing free eyeglasses for children in need. He then went on to restructure Wayne County’s Department of Health, Human & Veterans Services, serving 1.8 million residents across the state’s largest and most diverse county. Abdul is running for the United States Senate to bring this proven record of effective, compassionate governance to Washington, ensuring the federal government fights for working families rather than billionaires and special interests.

How he’ll help your community:

• Canceling Medical Debt: Abdul views predatory healthcare debt as a massive burden on families. As a public servant, he pioneered a monumental program that will wipe out up to $700 million in medical debt for 300,000 Michiganders, and he will fight for similar debt forgiveness at the federal level.

• Lowering Prescription Drug Prices: Having served on President Biden’s Unity Task Force for Healthcare, Abdul directly helped craft the very policies that are driving down prescription drug prices today. In the Senate, he will push to heavily restrict Big Pharma’s ability to price-gouge consumers.

• Protecting Environmental Health: Named “Public Official of the Year” by the Michigan League of Conservation Voters, Abdul has consistently taken on the state’s biggest corporate polluters to remove environmental toxins from local communities and protect children from lead poisoning.

• Expanding Care Infrastructure: From making life-saving Narcan universally accessible to defending vital nutrition assistance programs like SNAP and WIC, Abdul is committed to fortifying the public safety net so that life isn’t so expensive or punishing for vulnerable families.

His position on key issues

• Healthcare for All: An expert on health reform, Abdul literally co-authored Medicare for All: A Citizen’s Guide.He is a fierce proponent of establishing a single-payer healthcare system that treats medical care as a fundamental right, not a profit center.

• Ending Corporate Influence: Abdul refuses to let the political system be bought by wealthy oligarchs. His campaign is entirely people-powered; he proudly rejects corporate PAC money and relies exclusively on small-dollar individual contributions.

• Economic Equity & Union Solidarity: A card-carrying member of multiple unions—including the AFT and SEIU—Abdul champions working people. He fights against corporate greed and billionaire-driven inequality to put hard-earned dollars back into the pockets of regular families.

• People over Profit: Inspired to run after witnessing how cost-cutting corporate mentalities poisoned children during the Flint water crisis, Abdul is determined to build an ethical government centered on transparency, accountability, and human dignity.

To learn more about Abdul, visit his website: https://abdulforsenate.com/