Messaging targeted toward disaffected Democrats in the U.S. Senate race is beginning to shift.

Instead of pushing lifelong, deep-blue Democrats to defy their political DNA and cast a vote for Trump-backed Republican Mike Rogers, the ask of those voters is now to “leave it blank.”

The goal is to give voters who fear Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed but loathe Donald Trump a way to punish the president while helping defeat El-Sayed: When they get to the Senate circles on the ballot, don’t fill in either one.

Lon Johnson, a former Michigan Democratic Party chair, and David Kramer, a longtime Democratic strategist who has previously helped elect Democrats to the Senate, are leading the effort. Both supported Rep. Haley Stevens over El-Sayed in the August Democratic primary.

“Supporting a candidate after a hard-fought primary is an act of party unity, not a surrender of principle,” the pair wrote in an op-ed for The Detroit News. “Democrats (who were) asked to set aside their differences for Abdul El-Sayed had every right to expect … a commitment to earn their trust, address their legitimate concerns and unite a party whose nomination he won with less than 50% of the vote.”

“He has failed that test.”

Johnson, in an interview and in the op-ed, said he and Kramer have been under pressure by Democrats who support Rogers to vote for the Republican. But they chose a different route, one they say keeps them true to their ideals.

“For many of us, there is dignity in leaving it blank,” they wrote.

The approach isn’t perfect ― converting a Democratic voter to Rogers is a gain of two votes for the Republican, while convincing that same Democrat not to vote for either candidate is a net gain of just one vote. But it lowers both El-Sayed’s tally and the number of votes Rogers needs to win.

Two years ago, Rogers lost to now-Sen. Elissa Slotkin by less than a percentage point in a race in which both Democrats and Republicans held the partisan line.

If Michigan remains that evenly divided, the winning Senate candidate will again have to capture nearly all of his party’s base. If a significant number of partisan loyalists defect or don’t vote, the chances of victory go way down.

The “leave it blank” campaign is aimed primarily at Jewish voters who are distressed by El-Sayed’s expressed hostility toward Israel and his ties to noted antisemites and anti-Zionists.

“Our gravest concerns involve El-Sayed’s associations with figures who have excused or minimized terrorism, his reluctance to unequivocally condemn dangerous rhetoric and his support of extreme policies,” the op-ed states.

The message seems to be breaking through. On Oct. 12, a rally at Temple Israel, the site of the terrorist attack last spring that El-Sayed seemingly excused, drew 1,000 attendees. Although not billed as a pro-Rogers event, the intent to stop El-Sayed was clear.

More prominent Jewish Democrats have come out for Rogers. This week, Gary Torgow, head of the Jewish Federations of America, and Larry Deitch, a former University of Michigan regent, wrote letters to The Detroit News denouncing El-Sayed’s equivocation on Israel and backing the Republican.

Johnson and Kramer address Democratic concern that a Rogers victory could give Republicans, and Trump, a Senate majority. They say a surprising blue wave building in traditionally GOP stronghold states should mitigate that threat. And even if El-Sayed should win, they write, his extreme views would make him an outlier in the Senate and render him ineffective for Michigan.

They won’t vote for El-Sayed and are actively working to defeat him. That’s a big risk for such stalwart members of the Democratic establishment, two men whose livelihoods have been tied to the party’s success.

“We remain Democrats, committed to electing outstanding candidates up and down the ballot and protecting the party’s future,” they write. “We reject the notion that declining to support one nominee makes anyone less of a Democrat.”

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The Detroit News has endorsed in all major races for the Nov. 3, 2026, general election. See a full list of our endorsements here.

Correction: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Rep. Haley Stevens’ name.

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Dems urged to ‘leave it blank’ to stop Abdul El-Sayed | Finley

Reporting by Nolan Finley, The Detroit News / The Detroit News

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