Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee in Michigan, brought one of the most progressive members of Congress, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., to deeply conservative areas of his state’s Upper Peninsula on Thursday.

The trip was part of what El-Sayed has branded the “Shouldn’t Be This Hard” bus tour. He is running against former Rep. Mike Rogers, a Republican, in a race that is critical to the battle for control of the Senate.

El-Sayed and Ocasio-Cortez largely focused on economic issues as they traveled from Escanaba to Iron Mountain to Marquette, weaving attacks on Republicans into their remarks at events during which they also took some questions from the crowd. Throughout the day, El-Sayed traded jabs with Rogers; by nighttime, he was locked in a war of words with Vice President JD Vance, who was visiting Monroe to campaign with Rogers.

Here are highlights from the more than eight hours El-Sayed and Ocasio-Cortez spent on the trail together, across two time zones. (All times below are Eastern.)

11:03 a.m. — Hundreds of people have lined up outside a large red storage barn on a fairground in Escanaba, a tiny lakeside city in a county Donald Trump carried by more than 30 percentage points in 2024. Many in the crowd describe themselves as committed Democrats from the Upper Peninsula who are thrilled, and surprised, to receive a visit from such high-profile guests. “Nobody ever bothers to come to the Upper Peninsula,” says Michelle Ottensman, 63, of Escanaba.

11:33 a.m — Not far from the barn, a small group of supporters of Rogers are gathered. They hold American flags, and signs with messages such as “Nothing Is Free” and “No Green Energy Scam.”

12:06 p.m. — Ocasio-Cortez, taking the stage before El-Sayed, is greeted by chants of “AOC! AOC!” The congresswoman quickly praises El-Sayed, saying he is “not a typical politician” and is unafraid to campaign in unscripted settings.

12:13 p.m — El-Sayed takes the stage and hugs Ocasio-Cortez. He leads a call-and-response chant that has become a staple of his campaign: “Money out of?” “Politics!” “Money in your?” “Pocket!” “Medicare for All!”

12:48 p.m. — Onstage, Ocasio-Cortez accuses the Trump administration of limiting the ability of women to get an education. “They don’t want women to go to college, y’all,” Ocasio-Cortez says, referring to limits on federal student loans, adding, “We have to understand what the deal is here.”

1:18 p.m. — El-Sayed tells reporters after the event that voters in the area say they “voted for Trump not because I love Trump — I voted for Trump because I hate politics.” El-Sayed casts himself as “something different.” He notes that he ran against his own party’s establishment in the Democratic primary for Senate. “The real organizing feature of our politics is really who’s running against the system.”

3:27 p.m. — El-Sayed appears before a crowd that has filled the second floor of a ski lodge in Iron Mountain. The crowd, which El-Sayed’s campaign says numbers around 450, overflows into another room, where dozens of people are listening. A driving rain is now falling on the Upper Peninsula.

3:52 p.m. — Zwelakhe Koehs, 9, asks El-Sayed and Ocasio-Cortez whether they are going to become president or vice president. El-Sayed responds to the question: “Here’s what I’m interested in doing: I’m interested in being your next United States senator.” He cracks that he hopes Zwelakhe could be an intern for him during his second term in the Senate. Ocasio-Cortez, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, laughs and claps.

4:13 p.m. — El-Sayed tells the crowd he’s been told, “You’re a Democrat — why would you come up to Iron Mountain?” He talks of unity and says he believes some people who voted for Trump in 2024 now regret their votes. “They’re paying $5 gas, too,” El-Sayed says. He urges his supporters to reach out to those in their lives who have supported President Donald Trump. “We can spend our time trying to indict people for a bad decision they cannot yet take back,” he says, “or inviting them to a decision they have yet to make.”

4:25 p.m. — Rogers posts on social media a video that shows him at his own campaign event — a rally with Vance. “Abdul El-Sayed cannot be allowed anywhere near the United States Senate,” Rogers says. “He is the most extreme, dangerous candidate to ever run for the United States Senate.” At that rally, Vance framed El-Sayed’s critiques of American systemic racism and foreign policy as “hatred,” saying that the Democrat was ungrateful to a nation that enabled his success.

4:36 p.m. — In an interview after El-Sayed’s stop in Iron Mountain, the 9-year-old Zwelakhe says he appreciated El-Sayed’s answer to his question. “I thought it was a good answer,” Zwelakhe says.

7:01 p.m. — A waving Ocasio-Cortez takes the stage to a standing ovation in a packed gymnasium at Northern Michigan University. The bus tour has moved to deep-blue Marquette, a college town on Lake Superior. Ocasio-Cortez marvels at the scene. “What a sight to see,” she says.

7:21 p.m. — On campus, El-Sayed arrives on the stage to “Changes” by Tupac Shakur, which includes a line decrying “war in the Middle East instead of war on poverty.”

7:41 p.m. — El-Sayed, a son of Egyptian immigrants, responds to Vance’s comments in Monroe. El-Sayed says he “understands how deep and profound the gift of this country” is as “a kid who was born here but for the accident of history that allowed that to happen.” He adds: “Don’t lecture me about America. I know America.”

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Tim Balk/Zbigniew Bzdak
c. 2026 The New York Times Company