Reluctant endorsers line up

The Democratic establishment did not choose El-Sayed in August, when he narrowly won the primary over a moderate pro-Israel candidate backed by much of the party machine. Since then, senior figures who fought his nomination - or who remain uneasy about his call to end US military aid to Israel - have lined up behind him with the caveats still attached.

• •Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer endorsed El-Sayed while saying his views on Israel are "much different than mine".
• •Senator Elissa Slotkin said she was counting on El-Sayed as a partner against Trump's agenda but noted they "don't agree on everything - and that's OK".
• •Former congressman Sander Levin endorsed him despite what he called "significant disagreement" on Israel, while congresswoman Hillary Scholten said she would not campaign with anyone who associates with the commentator Hasan Piker.
• •Cory Booker, asked on CNN, spoke about his family roots in Michigan and "winning back the Senate" without mentioning El-Sayed by name, and stayed stone-faced when told it was not a ringing endorsement.

Stevens moves from 'on the team' to shared stage

The most telling shift belongs to Haley Stevens, whom El-Sayed beat by less than a percentage point in August. Pressed by CNN's Dana Bash on whether she still supported him, Stevens offered only that she was "on the team". AIPAC had spent close to $30m backing her in the primary - the lobby's largest investment in a single race - and she carried Wayne county, taking about 51% of the Democratic vote there to El-Sayed's 45%.

That guardedness now gives way to a shared stage. El-Sayed and Stevens were set to campaign together on Sunday, two days before election day, their first joint appearance in months.

Star power behind the nominee

The weekend's line-up put the party's heaviest names beside the nominee even as Donald Trump attacked him at a rally in Port Huron on Sunday, calling him a "jihadist" and "Muslim Brotherhood member" and invoking 9/11. Bernie Sanders rallied with El-Sayed in Grand Rapids, and Barack Obama stood beside him in Detroit, after Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had toured the state with him days earlier. Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders have each transferred $1m to the campaign, and Kamala Harris appeared with him in Detroit last month.

Obama joined El-Sayed on stage on the first day of early voting, his first public support since the primary, as a protest by Jake Lang took place outside. Defending the candidate against attacks on his name, the former president drew on his own: "I remind them his name was Barack".

Where the race stands

The michigan senate race polls show a margin-of-error contest. A Marist poll last week put El-Sayed at 50% and Mike Rogers at 48% among likely voters, consistent with the small lead El-Sayed has typically held. But he was trailing by nearly two to one in ad spending as of early October, and the pressure has come with personal attacks: Trump has repeatedly called him "Mohammed" this month, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee has aired ads using his full name, Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed.

Rogers has told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that El-Sayed is "anti-Jew", a charge El-Sayed rejects. El-Sayed responded in a statement that Trump knows his name and accused him of trying to "use my name and my faith to distract us" from the cost of gas, groceries and healthcare.

If El-Sayed wins on Tuesday he would be the first Muslim US senator, in a state Trump won by less than two points in 2024. El-Sayed and Stevens were set to campaign together on Sunday, two days before election day, their first joint appearance in months.