Youngest candidate to ever run in state’s gubernatorial race visits U.P.

MARQUETTE — A potential candidate for the next Governor of Michigan made a stop in the U.P. over the weekend.

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed is the youngest candidate to ever run in the state’s gubernatorial race and would be the first Muslim governor in the United States. El-Sayed visited the Marquette Commons to discuss subjects such as how being Muslim impacts his campaign, along with education and immigration plans. El-Sayed’s Father was an immigrant of Egypt.

If elected Governor, this 32-year old University of Michigan graduate, allegedly wants to focus on the entire state of Michigan.

“I want to understand regionally what the challenges are and we kicked off this meeting asking what the challengers were that Yoopers were mentioning about where we need to go in our state. I’ll tell you what is fascinating to me, is that these are the same challenges that people are saying all over. Whether you are here in the U.P., Western Michigan, or Detroit, I wanted to understand how Yooper’s challenges are and what we can do to address them,” said

With El-Sayed’s background as a physician, he believes this will help him solve challenges that Michiganders are currently facing. Local Democrats who attended the event said they were happy to see candidates support towards the well being of the U.P.

“He mentions the city of Ishpeming which is my hometown, it prideful for me to bring a candidate up here who cares so much about the Upper Peninsula. We’ve seen that with every candidate that’s come up here and it just brings the community together,” said Marquette County Democrat Party Chairman, Jason Chapman.

El-Sayed has previously served as the Executive Director of the Detroit Health Department and Health Officer for the city of Detroit.