Michigan Democrats rally for union support as 2026 get-out-the-vote effort begins

DETROIT — With just two weeks to go until the Nov. 3 general election, Michigan’s Democratic nominees rallied with union workers in an attempt to energize supporters in a wide get-out-the-vote effort.

The rally, hosted by the Michigan Democratic Party and the Northern Midwest Regional Council of Carpenters, was held Sunday at the Detroit Union Carpenters and Millwrights Skilled Training Center in Detroit.

U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed and gubernatorial candidate and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson headlined the rally, which also featured Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, the Democratic nominee for secretary of state; Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit, the Democratic attorney general nominee; and state Rep. Donavan McKinney (D-Detroit), the Democratic nominee in the 13th Congressional District. House Minority Leader Ranjeev Puri (D-Canton) and Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield also spoke at the rally.

Each candidate and nominee boasted about their union support in their respective races and touched on the stakes of the election — especially as they try to capitalize on the favorable environment for their party in the upcoming contest.

Benson said she was bullish on the party’s chances.

“Are you guys ready to shock the nation and elect Democrats up and down the ballot in 16 days?” Benson said to a fired-up crowd of workers. “Are you ready to build more things in Michigan and create more well-paid union jobs for the people of this state? Are you ready to fight for democracy? Well, I am too.”

Benson said she understands the needs of working people because her parents were special education teachers. She pledged to continue fighting for workers’ rights if elected governor. Benson faces the Republican nominee, U.S. Rep. John James (R-Shelby Township).

“I know tariffs and the war in Iran are cutting jobs and raising prices on gas and groceries and just about everything we buy. And that’s why, as governor, I’m going to go to the mat for you and use every tool in my toolbox to ensure we’re protecting our jobs and lowering our prices,” Benson said. “I know that that is what Michiganders deserve, and I know our opponents have no plan to do any of that. We will ensure that Michigan’s workers are the centerpiece of everything we do for our economy.”

El-Sayed, who has positioned himself as the pro-union candidate in his race with former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-White Lake), said that he would aim to create an environment for workers that allows for union organizing in every sector of American life.

“We’re going to stand with working people against the corporations who, for too long, have been able to dictate terms so that they can make a second $1 billion, while our folks struggle to make their first $100,000,” El-Sayed said. “And while we’re at it … we’re going to make sure that corporations can’t continue to buy and sell politicians in the same way that Mike Rogers and Donald Trump have been bought and sold their entire career.”

Vance calls Michigan’s U.S. Senate race a ‘test’ of gratitude versus grievance in rally for Rogers

El-Sayed also noted that despite the opposition he’s received en masse from Republican leaders including President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, he’s been focused on talking about issues that affect working people instead of making this race about him and his story. Vance recently delivered remarks in Michigan that focused heavily on El-Sayed, his platform and his comments on his Muslim faith.

“They don’t know Michiganders,” El-Sayed said. “We’re open-minded and we’re big-hearted. We’re earnest and we’re gritty. We just don’t want to be taken advantage of by a billionaire from New York or a millionaire from Florida. … We’re not going to back down for the next 16 days, or the next six years after that, because it’s our union movement, it is our state of Michigan, and we aim to stand up for it and protect it.”

Detroit will be a major battleground for the candidates. Rogers, in particular, is seeking to chip away at El-Sayed’s support there, where U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Birmingham) performed strongest against him in the primary. While Detroit, a majority-Black city, has consistently backed Democratic candidates, Rogers has been exploiting division within the party by courting Black voters who preferred Stevens in August and those who have reservations about El-Sayed. That outreach includes members of the Jewish community in Detroit and its surrounding suburbs.

Rogers opened a Detroit field office this weekend to further those goals.

Sheffield urged Detroiters to turn out for the party in light of those attempts to chip into the Democratic base.

“Electing them is going to take all of us. We cannot take anything for granted,” Sheffield said. “We can’t stand on the sidelines when so much we know is at stake. Our voices have power. Our votes have power. And when we vote, we help decide what comes next. What comes next for our families and for our communities and for our state.”