Sean Bartley and Cup of Culture Endorse Abdul El-Sayed for U.S. Senate — Michigan Needs Him, and So Does the Country

I’m a barista in Seattle. I pay attention to politics because I have to — because what happens in Washington shows up in my life, in my paycheck, in the people I serve every morning. And in 2018, I stood next to a guy running for governor of Michigan who I genuinely believed could change things. His name was Abdul El-Sayed.

He didn’t win that race. But he was right about everything.

Now he’s running for U.S. Senate in Michigan, and I’m not waiting around to see how this one plays out. Cup of Culture is endorsing Abdul El-Sayed, and I want to tell you exactly why.

I reached out to his campaign and we were able to chat. What happened wasn’t just talking points. It was the kind of clarity that’s been missing from Democratic politics for a long time. Read it for yourself my friends!

“The Establishment Is Afraid of Real People”

AIPAC is fundraising for his opponent. A Republican senator is helping. And Abdul is running a 100% small-dollar campaign anyway.

I asked him what that tells Michigan voters. He didn’t blink:

“Corporations, AIPAC, and other special interests are driving this reality — they buy off politicians to the tune of millions in ad buys in exchange for votes to continue to ignore Americans’ needs. Campaigns like ours are pushing back by putting the issues that matter first and demanding we get money out of our politics.”

That’s not a talking point. That’s a diagnosis. And it’s accurate.

On Medicare for All — The Honest Version

A lot of Democrats will tell you they support Medicare for All. Then they go cash a check from a pharma PAC and vote the other way. I pushed Abdul on this directly, and he didn’t dodge it.

He was the Director of Health for Detroit and Wayne County. He ran a program that wiped out up to $700 million in medical debt for 300,000 Michiganders. He knows this system from the inside. And he said something that I think more people need to hear:

“What we actually need to pass Medicare for All, before we get the votes to pass it, is strong leaders who champion the policy — especially in places where they tell us it’s not popular.”

He’d be the first Democratic doctor in the Senate since 1969. That matters. Not just symbolically — because someone who has actually delivered healthcare to real people understands what’s broken in a way that career politicians simply don’t.

Coming from someone that has seen how deeply broken our healthcare system is from the inside, this was deeply good to hear from him.

Independent Media Is the Story

Abdul recently campaigned with Hasan Piker. The reaction was massive. I asked him what that energy says about where independent media fits in these races, and his answer spoke directly to what we’re doing here at Cup of Culture:

“What independent media has done is put that power into the hands of individuals who get to choose what they want to talk about... You don’t do that by doing the occasional TV interview — it’s through relentless campaigning anywhere and everywhere, putting yourself in unconventional and forgotten spaces.”

That’s us. That’s what we do here. And that’s why this endorsement matters to me personally — because Abdul El-Sayed gets it. He’s not condescending to independent creators. He’s showing up for them. We wont forget it, and the American people will see REAL results because of it.

What’s Happening on the Ground in Michigan

I grew up in Michigan, but now live in Seattle. Michigan hold a really important place in my heart. I know the people there, I know how much potential is in the mitten, so I asked him to paint a picture for readers on the West Coast. What he described isn’t abstract:

NIH grants disappearing. Rural hospitals at risk of closure. Hundreds of thousands of Michiganders losing their insurance. A contract dispute between Blue Cross Blue Shield and the University of Michigan Health system that threatened 300,000 people’s care. Hospital systems crushing nurses unions while demanding more work for the same pay.

“This is the reality so many Americans are facing: affordable housing options are too hard to find, health insurance costs skyrocketed, and the cost of gas and groceries have become a massive burden.”

This is Trump’s America made concrete. And it’s why this Senate seat isn’t just about Michigan.

Stick with me…

The Personal Note — And Why It Hit Different

I told Abdul I was a barista in Seattle. That I supported him in 2018. I asked what he wanted progressives outside Michigan to understand about why this race matters right now.

His answer brought it all the way back:

“When I ran in 2018, I said that Trump was not the disease of our politics, but the worst symptom... Winning in Michigan on a platform like ours proves that this isn’t an issue of left versus right — it’s about the folks who have been locked out against those doing the locking out.”

That framing is exactly right. This isn’t ideological performance. This is a fight over who the government actually works for.

The Bottom Line

Abdul El-Sayed is running a small-dollar campaign against an opponent backed by AIPAC and a Republican senator. He’s a doctor who has delivered real healthcare outcomes for real people. He’s the only candidate in this race who hasn’t taken a dime of corporate PAC money. And he understands that independent media and grassroots organizing aren’t side projects — they’re the whole game.

Michigan has a Senate seat that could help define the next era of progressive politics in this country. I believe Abdul El-Sayed is the right person to hold it.

Cup of Culture is all in. I hope you will be too.

If you’re in Michigan — or know people who are — share this. Talk about it. The race is happening right now and every voice matters.

I’m Sean Bartley with Cup of Culture and The Progressive — and if you want to help fight back, follow and share this article!

- Sean