Ocasio-Cortez Lobs $1M at Abdul El-Sayed

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez isn't just stumping for Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan—she's cutting a seven-figure check. The New York Democrat has shifted $1 million to a joint fundraising committee backing El-Sayed's Senate bid, reports the New York Times, an unusually large move for a House member in a race outside her own state. The money flows to the Abdul for Michigan Victory Fund, tied to his campaign, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and Michigan Democrats. "I'm not waking up on November 4th wishing I did more to combat the smears aimed at Abdul," Ocasio-Cortez tells the Times. "I'm leaving everything I can on the field."

It's part of a big push in Michigan for Ocasio-Cortez, who is openly mulling a 2028 presidential run or a Senate challenge in New York and has cast the Michigan contest as a key test for progressives. She stumped with El-Sayed on Thursday and was holding solo events Friday, notes Semafor, including a "Latinos for Abdul" rally in Detroit. El-Sayed is locked in a close race with Republican ex-Rep. Mike Rogers, with the outcome likely to factor into which party controls the Senate.