LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Democrats vowed during their Aug. 29 convention to focus this fall on opposing Republican President Donald Trump and fighting to lower prices, as internal disagreements loomed over the party's push for victories in November. Inside a downtown Lansing convention center, hundreds of people gathered to officially nominate members of the state's Democratic ticket and ...

Winnie Brinks, right, candidates for governor and lieutenant governor, respectively, speak during the Michigan Democratic Partyís state convention on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026, at the Lansing Center in Lansing, Mich..

Katy Kildee/The Detroit News/TNS

LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Democrats vowed during their Aug. 29 convention to focus this fall on opposing Republican President Donald Trump and fighting to lower prices, as internal disagreements loomed over the party's push for victories in November.

Inside a downtown Lansing convention center, hundreds of people gathered to officially nominate members of the state's Democratic ticket and celebrate candidate for governor Jocelyn Benson of Detroit and U.S. Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed of Ann Arbor.

Benson, the current secretary of state, downplayed the idea there was tension lingering within the party, telling reporters that Democratic candidates were united around a vision of cutting costs and fighting corruption.

"You're going to hear us all talking about driving down the cost of healthcare," Benson told reporters after the event. "You're going to hear all of us talking about the need to grow our economy, the need to ensure that we have people-driven leaders, not corporate-funded leaders.

"We're all talking about that across the state, and we're all going to do it in our own ways, representing our individual communities the best way we know how."

Yet there were still signs of potential disharmony at the convention, 66 days before the midterm election.

Some prominent Democrats haven't endorsed El-Sayed because of his connections to far-left online commentator Hasan Piker. Appearing before the party's Jewish Caucus at the convention on Aug. 29, El-Sayed, a former Wayne County health official, apologized for saying "hurt people hurt people" in a statement he made after an attack on a Michigan synagogue in March.

Meanwhile, there was no photo-op with all of the Democratic candidates on stage at the end of the convention. Plus, an array of prominent Democrats didn't attend the convention, including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel and the Democratic members of the state's congressional delegation.

One of them, U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Grand Rapids, has repeatedly spoken out against Piker.

"I think it's up to the top of the ticket to unify the top of the ticket," Scholten said on Aug. 25.

People shouldn't read too much into the convention absences because many of the officials had other commitments, said Ron Bieber, president of the Michigan AFL-CIO.

Bieber also expressed optimism about the party's changes in November.

"It's there for Democrats to win," Bieber said, as polling has shown growing voter dissatisfaction with Trump two years into his second term in the White House.

Preview of the fall campaigns

Republicans held their nominating convention a week ago on Aug. 22.

This year, both the GOP and Democratic events were largely formalities, with party members officially signing off on picks for attorney general, secretary of state and university board positions that were made in the spring. They also officially nominated lieutenant governor selections made by the candidates for governor: state Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks of Grand Rapids for Benson, and state Rep. Jay DeBoyer of Clay Township for Republican gubernatorial hopeful John James.

James, a U.S. House member from Shelby Township, blasted the Democrats in a statement during the convention, noting that Nessel, who is Jewish, had recently spoken out about anti-Semitism within the party.

"Jocelyn Benson promises a new direction, but she and Winnie Brinks have been part of the leadership that got us lost in the first place,” James said. "Michigan is on fire and the Benson-Brinks B-Team is running on gas can policies."

However, Benson said the election was between Democratic candidates who want to fight to lower costs and raise wages and Republican candidates who will do what Trump tells them to do.

"That's the choice Michigan voters will be making this fall," Benson said.

El-Sayed made a similar argument on stage at the convention, saying that his opponent, Republican former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, thought he could get to the Senate by "doing any- and everything that Donald Trump tells him."

"He wants to be Donald Trump's errand boy. The funny thing is Donald Trump already has Natalie," El-Sayed said, referring to Trump aide Natalie Harp.

Trump has endorsed both James and Rogers of White Lake Township, who labeled El-Sayed a "conman" on the day of the Democratic convention, citing the apology his opponent had issued.

"After relying on his long-held antisemitic beliefs to win the primary, @AbdulElSayed is trying to con Michiganders into thinking his beliefs have changed," Rogers said on X.

Republicans haven't won a U.S. Senate race in Michigan since 1994.

Unity or division?

Lon Johnson, former chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, expressed optimism that El-Sayed, who is Muslim, was attempting to fix disagreements he's had with some Jewish members of the party.

"I'm seeking to bring this party together, and there's a lot of people out there that are not feeling heard. But what Abdul just did this morning tells me he's listening," Johnson said of El-Sayed's appearance before the Jewish Caucus at the convention.

El-Sayed will appear on Aug. 30 at another Jewish Caucus event in Birmingham.

State Sen. Jeremy Moss, D-Bloomfield Township, described the Aug. 29 convention as a "calm, peaceful, productive day." Moss, who is Jewish, said El-Sayed's apology to the Jewish Caucus about his statement on the synagogue attack was an appropriate and necessary move.

"Obviously, we've had a lot of conversations about the need to bring this coalition together," Moss said. "I think that's something that a lot of people in that room needed to hear."

To become the U.S. Senate nominee, El-Sayed defeated U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham in a contentious primary election on Aug. 4. Stevens, who wasn't at the convention, released her own written reflections about where things stand in the Democratic Party on Aug. 29.

Stevens wrote that she still believes the Democratic Party "is big enough to contain people who disagree with one another." She noted the economic pressures facing many people in Michigan and said the problems "aren’t going to be solved by finding another Democrat to throw out of the room."

"They’re going to be solved by figuring out how to stay in the room together long enough to do something about them," Stevens said.

Activist Robert Davis, a Democrat from Highland Park, was in the convention meeting room and spoke out against many of the Democratic nominees, including Benson, saying she had done everything "other than enforce the rule of law" as secretary of state.

Asked if the party was unified, Davis said it wasn't.

"You can see by the poor attendance at today's convention," Davis said, as some chairs in the convention hall remained empty.

But state House Minority Leader Ranjeev Puri, D-Canton Township, said the situation in the party spoke to what it means to be a Michigan resident.

"Michigan is a really diverse state, geographically, ethnically, racially, and I just think our party does a better job representing the people in 83 counties statewide."

He added, "All pathways now are on unifying, and everyone understands the task at hand and what the existential threat of not showing up in November could mean for our state."

At the convention, Democrats officially nominated Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II for secretary of state and Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit for attorney general. In November, Gilchrist will face Macomb County Clerk Tony Forlini, the Republican nominee, and Savit will square off against Republican Eaton County Prosecutor Doug Lloyd.

Democrats also nominated candidates for university board positions, including lawyer Amir Makled for a seat on the University of Michigan Board of Regents. Makled told one caucus meeting the entire country was watching the Michigan convention.

"Let us remind ourselves that no Democrat can do this alone," Makled said. "We need to come out of this convention united and ready to fight and be organized and win."

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