Democrat candidate for governor Abdul El-Sayed arrived at his polling location in Shelby Township within the first 30 minutes of polls opening on Tuesday morning.
With his wife and political team flanking him, El-Sayed seemed loose as he entered his polling location.
“I’m supposed to split my ticket, right?” he said jokingly to a volunteer, referring to confusion in primary elections (REMINDER: you can not vote in more than one party column in Michigan primaries).
Outside Lakeside Assembly of God Church, his polling location, El-Sayed noted that he’s hoping to get support from the other Democrat candidates if he wins, adding that he’d throw his support to Whitmer if she walks away with the victory. That said, he seemed confident in his chances to take a win.
Recent polls still show Whitmer as a front-runner, but El-Sayed has pointed to 2016 polls that predicted Hillary Clinton to beat Bernie Sanders in the primary President Trump in the general election — neither happened.
In fact, El-Sayed came across as a candidate preparing for a general election fight with Bill Schuette, the Michigan Attorney General who was endorsed by President Donald Trump.
“He’s never actually believed a word he’s said,” said El-Sayed. “He’s always been a corporate shill and now he wants to be Donald Trump’s caboose in Michigan.”
He went further to question Schuette’s work record and discussed an FBI investigation that has been linked to Schuette — similar statement’s made by Brian Calley, Schuette’s main competitor in the GOP primary contest.
“I think a lot of people assume this is going to turn into a traditional Democrat versus Republican race, it’s not.”
