r/news and r/Music on Abdul El-Sayed winning Michigan's Senate race over Mike Rogers
One of the cycle's most-watched Senate races, with a celebrity subplot: Bruce Springsteen and Nicki Minaj backed opposite sides.
FOX 2 Detroit (via FOX 11) reports that Democrat Abdul El-Sayed beat Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan's U.S. Senate race, for the seat left open by retiring Democrat Gary Peters, after a campaign it describes as bitter, with personal insults on both sides. El-Sayed declared victory after 1:30 a.m., leading 52% to 46%, and the Associated Press called the race at 2:27 a.m. FOX 2 describes him as the first Muslim to win the seat. A Newsweek piece from election day, linked in the r/Music thread, reports that Springsteen endorsed El-Sayed on Instagram while Minaj appeared with President Trump at an October 25 rally and led chants for Rogers and gubernatorial candidate John James.
The r/news thread drew about 67,000 upvotes and r/Music's about 82,000, whose title says all the candidates Minaj endorsed lost by landslides (the linked article predates the results). r/news commenters call it a big win for the party's progressive wing and praise his victory speech. In r/Music, most replies are criticism of Minaj; others note that a celebrity endorsement carries little weight with voters.
Across the spectrum 3
Democrat
Declaring victory, Abdul El-Sayed said "Michigan, we did it!" and told Mike Rogers, "You chose hate, and Michigan chose hope," adding: "They want an America that is too small for some of us. We know that America is big enough for all of us."
CBS News ↗Libertarian
On Election Day, Reason's Eric Boehm wrote that Michigan GOP nominee Mike Rogers called the Iran war a "win-win-win" in May and only in late September called for it to "end and end quickly," part of a pattern of Republicans in key Senate races breaking with "Trump's wildly unpopular war" only after supporting it.
Reason ↗Republican
In a statement after the race was called, which did not mention El-Sayed or formally concede, Mike Rogers thanked supporters and said: "Michigan — we have a state to save, now more than ever. Our work continues, and I remain hopeful that Michigan's best days are ahead," CBS Detroit reports.
CBS Detroit ↗-
Abdul El-Sayed
After exploring Abdul El-Sayed triumphs in bitter US Senate contest over Mike Rogers, the senator-elect's background is covered in Abdul El-Sayed.
Wikipedia describes Abdul El-Sayed as an epidemiology professor and public health administrator who is the senator-elect from Michigan.
Wikipedia · Wade · 5 min
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Celebrity branding
After exploring Bruce Springsteen and Nicki Minaj Face Off in Crucial Midterm Race, for what endorsements are meant to do, see Celebrity branding.
Wikipedia explains celebrity endorsement as using a well-known person to promote a product, service or cause, on the idea that the celebrity's image transfers to it.
Wikipedia · Wade · 5 min
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