Updated October 24, 2026, 11:13 p.m. ET
DETROIT — Former President Barack Obama told thousands in Detroit on Oct. 24 that the midterm elections could be a “course correction” for the country, urging Michigan voters to support Democrats Jocelyn Benson and Abdul El-Sayed.
After a contentious primary season, state Democrats presented a united front in the Cass Technical High School gymnasium 10 days before the election. With Republican President Donald Trump’s job approval numbers lagging and gas prices high, Democrats have also expressed optimism about their chances on Nov. 3.
At one point, Obama told the crowd, “Change is in the air.”
“When you’ve campaigned in as many elections as I have, I can tell you that when an election comes around, it seems a little different,” Obama said.
“You can say enough is enough,” Obama said moments later. “We are voting for change right here in Michigan.”
Democrats are hoping to win a series of House races in Michigan, part of a campaign to overturn Republican control of Congress. El-Sayed, a former Ann Arbor public health official, is the Democratic nominee for a U.S. Senate seat that Democrats want to fill to try to win a majority in the chamber. The Republican nominee is former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers of White Lake Township.
Benson, the current secretary of state, is the party’s nominee for governor against Republican U.S. Rep. John James of Shelby Township. They are running to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
In an interview at the Cass Tech gymnasium, U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, who has expressed concerns about Democrats’ chances in past elections, spoke with optimism. She predicted Benson would win and said the Senate race was competitive.
“I’d rather be us than them,” Dingell said. “And we just have to do our job for the next 10 days.”
About 3,000 people watched the rally with Obama, El-Sayed and Benson in the gymnasium. About 1,000 more people were in an overflow theater near the high school.
There in the theater, Tammy Hicks, 66, of Detroit, watched Obama deliver a brief speech before taking the stage in the gymnasium.
“I think the Democrats have a very good chance,” Hicks said.
When asked what the most important issue in the election was, Hicks quickly responded: “Prices, gas prices.”
The Trump debate is in the spotlight
Obama, who served two terms in the White House before Trump’s 2016 victory, told the crowd that Trump had failed to keep his campaign promises to lower grocery and electricity prices.
Everything costs more, Obama said.
“In this case, the administration’s actions are directly responsible for the rising costs,” Obama said. “The current president has chosen to make a series of bad decisions, the most important of which is to start an unnecessary war.”
A day after Obama’s visit, Trump will rally Republican voters in Port Huron.
Republicans have accused Democrats of trying to use Obama to shore up their support in Detroit, which is traditionally a Democratic stronghold.
“Mike Rogers is building a winning coalition of Republicans, independents and Democrats that will defeat Abdul on November 3 and save Michigan after a quarter-century of failed Democratic rule,” said Hunter Lovell, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee.
Obama was the nation’s first black president and remains a prominent figure in national politics and in Detroit, where about 75 percent of the population is black.
Benson told reporters that Obama’s presence in Detroit was a call to action and a boost for Democrats.
“The eyes of the nation are on Michigan right now,” Benson said. “And the question for voters at the end of the day is who do you want to fight for you? … Leaders who are going to outright fight to put people first … or people on the other side who are all lining up behind the bad economic policy or the lying election denialism that Donald Trump will then support?”
Michigan Democrats say they are united
Benson said there was “tremendous enthusiasm” in the Cass Tech gym. And other senior party officials said they were united ahead of the final days of the campaign.
Among those in the crowd was Zeeshan Rizvi, 25, a medical student, who said he came to the rally, 10 days before the midterm elections, to “witness history.”
“This is the kind of thing they will talk about in the history books,” Rizvi said.
On August 4, El-Sayed won the Senate nomination over U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham in a close primary election. Some Democrats have refused to support El-Sayed, in part because of his public statements criticizing Israel.
But Obama and U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, both made compelling arguments in his favor at the Oct. 24 event.
Obama told a crowd in Detroit that El-Sayed shared his values and that it was OK that El-Sayed had previously expressed policy disagreements with him.
“We’re not going to agree on every detail of every issue,” Obama told the crowd.
In recent weeks, Republicans have echoed some negative statements El-Sayed made years ago about Obama’s presidency. But Obama said he and his wife, Michelle Obama, disagreed on everything he did.
As for attacks on El-Sayed’s Muslim faith and family background, Obama said that when someone wants to change a broken system, those who benefit from the status quo will say and do anything to prevent change from happening.
“We’ve seen this movie before,” Obama said. “I played it.”
He added: “I have a detailed birth certificate to prove it,” referring to false claims by Trump and others that he was not born in the United States.
Slotkin said the disagreements within the Democratic Party should not be progressive versus moderate, but between “team fight” and “team flight.” She described El-Sayed as a fighter.
“If we want our children and grandchildren to believe in this country, we have to fight for it,” Slotkin said.
Democrats may have disagreements, but they agree on putting a damper on the Trump administration, Slotkin said.
El-Sayed told reporters he saw unity on the ground as he campaigned in Michigan.
“There are narratives that people want to create,” El-Sayed said. “Then there are the facts on the ground.
“And the fact on the ground is that people can’t afford gas, they can’t afford groceries, they’re afraid to see a doctor. They want people who are going to stand up to the corruption that Donald Trump’s office has created in our country.”
Gn usa
