Comfortably Uncomfortable
Why a Jewish Michigander who has helped elect hundreds of Democrats would vote for Mike Rogers
It makes me uncomfortable that I have to write this at all. It might make you uncomfortable to read it. But there are times when discomfort means you’re doing something wrong; there are others when it indicates you’re finally seeing something clearly. For most of my life, I trusted that the Democratic Party, as a whole, would stand with the Jewish community and against hate. I’m saddened to say I no longer believe that.
I grew up in Michigan. I went to Jewish day school there, was confirmed at Temple Israel, and many of the people I love most still live there. I no longer vote in Michigan, but it has never stopped feeling like home.
I’ve not only voted for Democrats my entire adult life, I’ve built an organization dedicated to electing them. Tech for Campaigns, which I founded in 2017 and still chair, has quite literally helped elect hundreds of Democrats, all in purple and red states and districts.
So I know both this community and this party from the inside. And, I have never been more alarmed by a Democratic candidate, or the risk he poses to my community and, quite frankly to the Democratic Party, as I am by Abdul El-Sayed. Never.
I’m not writing to change committed minds or to fight in the comments with haters and bots. I’m writing to those of you who are still torn, because I know that place well. I thought my discomfort was about potentially voting for a Republican. It turns out to be about something much deeper.
The Discomfort I Expected
Mike Rogers and I disagree on plenty. But we agree on fighting antisemitism and keeping the Jewish community and America safe, and without that foundation, little else matters.
I understand the initial worry he’d be a blank check for Trump. But Democrats are beyond well positioned to win the House, which is the check that matters most in Trump’s final two years. There are also many paths to a Senate majority that don’t run through Michigan; North Carolina, Maine, Alaska, Ohio and Kansas (yes, really) among other states. And while Trump leaves in two years, a seat for El-Sayed launches a career that would last decades. Don’t tell me a junior senator lacks power. Barack Obama was running for president two years into his first term. JD Vance was elected vice president before he’d served two years.
I’m not saying I’d be excited or that you should necessarily be excited about it. Voting for Rogers is uncomfortable. But it’s a discomfort I can live with.
The Discomfort I Didn’t Expect
Since October 7th, I’ve had a series of wake-up calls. When Temple Israel was attacked in March 2026, I saw photos of people I grew up with clutching their children, miraculously unharmed. Now I check the security situation before attending a Jewish event. I wish my dad a happy new year knowing he just left a synagogue that needed snipers on the roof. I think twice about who I tell about my next trip to Israel.
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And the Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan has made it worse:
- He’s alleged Israel is not America’s ally and has called the country (not its gov’t) “bloodythirsty”, evoking an age-old antisemitic trope.
- He has yet to condemn the most antisemitic ad I’ve seen in my lifetime, one supporting his campaign and blaming Americans’ economic pain on Jews. His spokesperson’s answer was that he’s ‘focused on pushing back against Trump’s agenda.’ But the candidate who condemns Israel, AIPAC and Netanyahu every time a microphone is in front of him can’t find three minutes to condemn a 1933-style ad about Jewish people in his state? And yesterday when asked directly, he said “voters don’t care about this.”
- His own campaign ran an ad featuring Tucker Carlson, a committed antisemite (amongst other ugly things).
- When Rep.Haley Stevens asked him to condemn the ads from the last two weeks, something that should be very easy if you’re a defender of all people, he disingenuously called it “relitigating the primary.”
- He campaigned with Hasan Piker, who said America deserved 9/11, and has refused to condemn him, further emboldening Piker to compare a group of Jews canvassing in West Bloomfield to the KKK.
- Asked to condemn the IRGC, a very simple yes-or-no question, he deflected with a word salad.
None of it is a one-off. It’s a pattern, and so is his consistent refusal to answer questions. Ask about his associations, and you’re Islamophobic. Ask him to condemn an overtly antisemitic ad, and you’re relitigating. Ask about a choice he’d make between two things and you’re dumb for giving him a hypothetical. Important questions go unanswered, his primary goal to shame anyone asking.
Here’s a simple test. If a candidate had tweets, family associations and op-eds tied to the KKK, would anyone tell journalists or voters to not ask about it? Asking is their job. Answering clearly enough that voters believe you is the candidate’s job.
El-Sayed deflects, obfuscates and tries to embarrass people. If you dare disagree with him you’re excommunicated — hardly the big tent mentality Democrats pride themselves on. I am more concerned about these Trump-like tactics and his other behaviors infiltrating the Democratic Party and America, than I am about Rogers.
Meanwhile, Jewish voters are told they must sweep aside grave concerns for the greater good. Look past the ads. Look past the comments that Israel doesn’t have a right to exist as a Jewish state. Look past all of the scary rhetoric. You feel unsafe? Come on, set that aside, because, they say, the stakes are too high. And also, you’re being kind of ridiculous, they say. Asking people to sacrifice their safety and to have blind loyalty for a Party not speaking up for them is a very MAGA move. I didn’t accept it from them, and I won’t accept it from Dems.
I know it feels disappointing to see this from a Democrat. But we have to judge it exactly as we would if it came from the other side of the aisle.
Look at Who Else is Uncomfortable
Lon Johnson, the former chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, says he can’t vote for El-Sayed. David Kramer, former finance chair for Elissa Slotkin’s Senate campaign, is voting for Rogers. Jamie Metzl, a former Clinton national security official, is urging Democrats to vote for Rogers. Leading Michigan Democratic donors are speaking out about their discomfort with El-Sayed.
And now, Rep. Haley Stevens has endorsed Rogers. The pundits have dismissed this as ‘petty and selfish.’ Really? Standing up for what you believe in is petty and selfish? If Haley Stevens were being selfish she would stay silent, be a good soldier and not risk angering fellow Dems and donors. That would be much easier for her. I find her move to be brave and frankly, that chip is missing from most politicians in 2026.
Not since Trump have I seen so many insiders come out publicly against their party’s candidate.
When your doctor says a symptom deserves attention, the warning carries weight because of who is giving it. These people have spent years building this party and living with its compromises. They know the difference between disappointment and alarm, and breaking with the party in public costs them. We should heed their warnings.
Where I’ve landed
So, if you’re still torn, ask yourself where is you discomfort coming from? Is it the thought of filling in the circle next to a Republican’s name? Or is it grappling with the fact that a candidate from the party you’ve always supported and trusted has made it horrifyingly clear he doesn’t support you?
The latter is the root of mine. If I still voted in Michigan, I would vote for Mike Rogers. Not because our values perfectly overlap, but because I believe he will protect our community and that El-Sayed’s words and silence put us in danger. I’m uncomfortable that this is the choice in front of us, but I’m comfortable with that decision.
