[Aljazeera] Washington, DC - If Abdul El-Sayed can pull off an upset win in Michigan's Democratic primary on Tuesday, he will be one step closer to becoming the first Muslim governor in the United States.The 33-year-old progressive underdog, who has rejected corporate money, has received endorsements from the Vermont senator and former presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, and progressive Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose surprise win in the New York primary elections in late June highlighted a growing divide in their party.
While El-Sayed has garnered national media attention, he faces numerous obstacles. Opinion polls give Gretchen Whitmer, the former Democratic leader in the state senate, a double-digit lead. But El-Sayed's supporters point to the upset victory of Sanders over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries in the state as a sign of hope.
And if El-Sayed is able to defeat his primary opponents, he will still face an uphill battle in a state won by Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential elections.
Despite the obstacles, El-Sayed is part of a broader wave of Muslim Americans running for political office in record numbers, according to Jetpac, a nonprofit that advocates civic engagement among the 3.45 million-person religious minority.