‘I hate Democrats, but I love Abdul’: voters who left over Gaza return for progressive push

In Michigan's 2025 primary, Abdul El-Sayed won the Democratic Senate nomination, and the state saw a surge in turnout—2.5 million votes, up from 2 million in 2024, according to The Guardian. The win comes after AIPAC and its allies spent over $54 million against him, making it the most expensive Democratic Senate primary in US history, as reported by Al Jazeera.

Waqas Sarwar, who voted for Jill Stein in 2024 but supported El-Sayed and Rashida Tlaib this year, expressed the sentiment driving many: “I hate Democrats, but I love Abdul.” As reported by The Guardian, this personal connection is part of a broader trend of voters returning to the Democratic tent over Gaza.

The Guardian frames these victories as a rupture in the party, with progressives winning nominations at every level of Michigan government, including attorney general hopeful Eli Savit, House nominees Will Lawrence and Donavan McKinney, state House nominee Chris Gilmer-Hill, and Ann Arbor mayoral candidate Yousef Rabhi. The primary also saw the victory of Adam Hamawy, a surgeon who refused to leave Gaza until his team evacuated, in a New Jersey House race, per Al Jazeera.

Voter journeys: from uncommitted to El-Sayed

Zainab Bibi Ahmed, a Wayne State University staffer, voted uncommitted in February 2024 and for Stein in November 2024, but now volunteers for El-Sayed. She told The Guardian she saw Zohran Mamdani, El-Sayed, and university regent candidates Shereef Akeel and Amir Makled, and decided: “I cannot not support these gentlemen just because they’re Democrats.”

Amin Hashmi, a “solid Democrat” until 2024, voted for Trump in 2024 and for El-Sayed in the primary, though he remains undecided for the general election, leaning toward Republican Mike Rogers. Samraa Luqman, a Yemeni American activist, also voted for Trump and El-Sayed, saying, “The Democrats became the George Bush of Gaza.”

The uncommitted movement in Michigan’s February 2024 primary drew 100,000 votes, about 13% of the vote, and in Dearborn, more people voted uncommitted than for Biden, after he won the city in 2020. Trump later became the first Republican to win Dearborn since Bush in 2000.

Rima Mohammad, an uncommitted delegate in 2024, co-founded the People’s Coalition after Trump’s victory, having supported Harris in 2024. Lexis Zeidan, co-founder of uncommitted, said the group organized under the Democratic tent, declined to endorse Harris but told supporters to “vote against” Trump and avoid third-party candidates.

El-Sayed backed uncommitted in 2024, then endorsed Harris; Stevens and AIPAC attack ads used his support for uncommitted against him, and Harris endorsed El-Sayed after his primary win, as reported by The Guardian.

For 18-year-old Dorian Sdunek, El-Sayed’s appeal was campaign finance reform, a theme echoed by the Guardian’s reporting on El-Sayed’s progressive platform.

Al Jazeera’s skeptical take

While The Guardian focuses on the return of voters, Al Jazeera offers a more critical perspective, arguing that “all the talk of a ‘shift on Israel’ within the Democratic Party is premature.” The outlet points to Democratic leaders’ 2024 attacks on student protesters, including calls that the Columbia encampment was a gathering of “anti-Israel, anti-Jewish activists” and a “breeding ground” for anti-Semitic attacks.

Al Jazeera highlights that the Democratic establishment remains aligned with Israel, citing the Democratic National Committee’s April rejection of a symbolic resolution condemning AIPAC’s interference, and AIPAC’s spending of over $100 million on the midterm race, with millions routed through other organizations to obscure donations.

Polling cited by Al Jazeera shows the shift in voter attitudes: a May New York Times/Siena poll found nearly three-quarters of Democratic voters did not approve of aid for Israel; a Quinnipiac University survey showed 66% of Democrats thought the US was too supportive; and an April Pew Research poll found 80% of Democrats viewed Israel unfavorably, up from 53% in 2022.

Al Jazeera also notes that on July 15, the House voted to strip Israel of $3.3 billion in military aid; 103 Democrats voted in favor, including Nancy Pelosi, but the measure failed. The outlet reports that Kamala Harris now regrets not pressuring Biden to be firmer with Israel, and Matthew Miller, former State Department spokesperson, admitted Israel “without a doubt” committed war crimes.

The limits of progressive wins

Al Jazeera argues that even the wins have limits. Ro Khanna, for example, has called for aid cuts and an end to Iron Dome financing and visited the West Bank, but led with a disclaimer condemning Hamas and refuses to say Palestinians have a right to self-defense. Brad Lander, who won a New York primary in June with backing from Zohran Mamdani, describes Gaza as genocide but identifies as a “liberal Zionist” and does not support BDS. Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, per Al Jazeera, offer only partial solidarity, not acknowledging Palestinians’ status as occupied people.

Al Jazeera’s framing suggests these election-season displays of sympathy are politically motivated, not genuine change, and warns against mistaking them for a human-rights awakening on Palestine.

The contrasting coverage—The Guardian’s hopeful voter stories versus Al Jazeera’s structural skepticism—paints a complex picture of a party in flux, where individual candidates can win over disaffected voters, but the establishment’s positions remain contested.