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Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s spring 2020 book “Healing Politics” advocated for federalizing the election system, decriminalizing border crossings and instituting reparations, among other significant policy changes.
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The book detailed El-Sayed’s life and his early ventures into politics. But it also included a chapter on 13 ideas for helping the country. Among them were plans he’s discussed regularly on the Senate campaign trail, like providing health care coverage for everyone.
The list also featured some ideas that might have been problematic in a Democratic primary if U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, whom El-Sayed defeated on Aug. 4, or her supporters had highlighted them.
In the book, El-Sayed of Ann Arbor specifically promoted the idea of federalizing elections – something Democrats have been criticizing Republican President Donald Trump for floating. El-Sayed argued the election system that’s currently run by state and local officials “creates huge variations in election law and election administration.”
“Federalizing the system would standardize it,” El-Sayed wrote, months before Trump’s backers attempted to overturn the battleground states’ results for the November 2020 election, including his 154,000-vote loss to Democrat Joe Biden in Michigan.
In February, Michigan’s Democratic secretary of state and candidate for governor Jocelyn Benson pushed back on Trump talking about getting the federal government involved in running elections.
“Elections are run by the states,” Benson said in February. “We do it very well with integrity, securely and effectively, time and time again, and we invite everyone to look at the transparent evidence that reinforces that fact.”
On reparations, El-Sayed wrote that America “is long overdue in paying the damages for its original sins.
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“We need a policy of reparations for Black and Native Americans,” El-Sayed wrote. “And although it won’t ever make it right, it may make a difference.”
Reparation policies could include direct investments in majority Black school districts or “unconditional cash transfers,” El-Sayed wrote. He also contended that border crossings should be decriminalized and downgraded from a criminal infraction to a civil one.
Asked about the passages, Roxie Richner, El-Sayed’s spokeswoman, said the book was written in 2020 and El-Sayed’s opinions had evolved since then, “particularly due to the implications the Jan. 6th attack had on the role the federal government should play in our elections.”
“Abdul has been clear that he supports securing the border, ensuring that internal immigration enforcement operates under the bounds of the Constitution and creating a clear pathway to citizenship for those living in legal limbo,” Richner said.
However, Alyssa Brouillet, communications director for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers, accused El-Sayed of speaking out of both sides of his mouth.
“Either this guy doesn’t know what he stands for, or his positions are so extreme that he has to run them back.” Brouillet said. “Which is it, Abdul?”
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This story was originally published August 16, 2026 at 12:07 PM.