Ocasio-Cortez set to rally for El-Sayed in Michigan

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is scheduled to travel to Michigan next week to campaign alongside Democratic Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed.

Ocasio-Cortez will make stops in three small towns on El-Sayed’s “It Shouldn’t Be This Hard” bus tour next Thursday, according to a schedule of events shared by El-Sayed’s campaign. The tour will hit Escanaba, Iron Mountain and Marquette.

“Abdul has built a winning coalition with an agenda to bring down costs for Michigan families, and I could not be more excited to join him for the final stretch of this race,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “Once he’s in Washington, I look forward to working with Abdul to guarantee healthcare as a human right for all Americans and to build a politics that is free from the corrupting influence of corporate money.”

On Friday, the New York Democrat will host her own separate political events at universities in Rochester, Mich., and Ypsilanti, Mich., and a “Latinos for Abdul Rally” in Detroit.

Ocasio-Cortez has previously campaigned alongside El-Sayed in Michigan and recently appeared at a Democratic fundraiser for his Senate race in New York City.

El-Sayed called the lawmaker a “critical partner” in his successful primary race.

“I look forward to campaigning with her over the course of the next 25 days to ensure that Michiganders have a Senator who is committed to putting money in their pocket, getting money out of politics, and passing medicare for all,” he said in a statement.

Several other prominent Democrats have already visited the Wolverine State to stump for the candidate as he seeks to defeat his Republican opponent, former Rep. Mike Rogers (Mich.), in the November race.

Last month, former Vice President Kamala Harris appeared alongside El-Sayed at a roundtable event in Detroit focused on Black maternal healthcare.

“Remember, the Senate seat is six years, so let’s think about that in the lives of all the people that the leaders here serve, and the good work that can happen over the course of those years, because of the power and the strength of Abdul and that Senate seat,” Harris told event attendees.

Former President Obama is also scheduled to campaign with the Democratic nominee on the first day of in-person voting in Michigan on Oct. 24. Obama will also stump for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson during his visit.

El-Sayed has narrowly pulled ahead of Rogers in recent polling in the closely contested race, which election handicapper Cook Political Report rates a “toss-up.”

During their first debate Thursday evening , Rogers and El-Sayed jostled over their plans to bring down the cost of living for Michiganders, President Trump’s sinking approval ratings, mass federal immigration crackdowns and the ongoing Iran war.