Kamala Harris campaigns for El-Sayed in Michigan

Former US vice president Kamala Harris campaigned with Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed in the Detroit area on Tuesday, seeking to help Democrats hold a key Michigan seat in November.

Harris appeared with El-Sayed at a roundtable on Black maternal health and was also due to meet Detroit faith leaders and attend a voter-turnout event involving the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

El-Sayed faces Republican former congressman Mike Rogers for the US Senate seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Senator Gary Peters. A Republican win would make Democrats' path to a Senate majority harder.

“The Senate should be a stopgap on the abuses of this administration,” Harris said at the roundtable, adding that El-Sayed would be one of those checks if elected.

El-Sayed, an epidemiologist and former public health official, has campaigned partly on his health administration experience. He said maternal care was personal for him and said the race offered a choice about investment in health care.

If elected, El-Sayed would become the first Muslim member of the US Senate. He is trying to unite Democrats after defeating establishment-backed Representative Haley Stevens in a bruising primary. He drew strong support from the left but performed less strongly among Black voters, a key Democratic constituency in Detroit.

The visit put Harris back in Michigan, where Donald Trump narrowly defeated her in the 2024 presidential election. Michigan is also set to vote early in the Democratic presidential nominating calendar in 2028.

Harris has said she is thinking about another presidential bid but has not given a timeline for a decision. Her Michigan appearance begins a wider round of midterm campaigning, with stops also planned in Nevada and Georgia.

El-Sayed and Harris have also differed over Israel. El-Sayed has criticised Israel and US arms sales to the country and initially backed the “Uncommitted” protest movement against then-president Joe Biden during the 2024 Democratic primary. Harris, as Biden's vice president, faced anger from Arab and Muslim voters in Michigan over the administration's support for Israel during the Gaza war.