Rapper Common performed in Detroit on Monday night at a get-out-the-vote rally for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, one day before Michigan voters head to the polls. Video of the performance circulated on social media that evening.
El-Sayed is facing Republican Mike Rogers, a former congressman, in a closely watched race for the state’s open Senate seat. Recent polling has shown El-Sayed with a lead over Rogers.
A statewide poll conducted Oct. 26-27 by Mitchell Research & Communications for CBS Detroit and other Michigan television stations found El-Sayed ahead of Rogers by 7 percentage points among likely voters in the Nov. 3 general election. A day before the vote, USA Today reported El-Sayed was leading by five points according to FiftyPlusOne, a political poll tracker that compiles data from sources including The New York Times and YouGov.
The race took an unexpected turn over the weekend when Democrat Haley Stevens, who lost to El-Sayed in the primary, announced she was endorsing Rogers instead.
“Hey Michigan, as you may have seen, our Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, Abdul, said that I was no longer welcome in his campaign and that I should stay away, and he’s right. That’s why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United State Senate today,” Stevens said.
“I don’t belong in Abdul’s campaign. I do not stand with Hasan Piker, who gets trafficked on our college campuses. A dear friend of mine earlier today was saying that education is on the ballot and she is absolutely right. What our students see, what our children see, and who we are as Michiganders is not hate. And is not what we are getting out from our Democratic nominee right now,” she continued.
Common has previously performed in support of other political campaigns, continuing a pattern of public advocacy for Democratic candidates. Whether his Detroit appearance moves turnout in El-Sayed’s favor will become clear when results come in from Tuesday’s election.
