Field against super PACs

1. 1

   48.5% to 47.5%: on 4 Aug 2026, El-Sayed won the Democratic primary despite about $60M in outside ads backing Stevens.

2. 2

   By the campaign's count, 10,000 people signed up to volunteer by July; about 12 regional organizers and two dozen paid fellows got them to the doors.

3. 3

   The campaign held rallies with streamer Hasan Piker despite pressure to cancel; El-Sayed was the most-mentioned candidate in livestream chats in the final month.

4. 4

   The money came mostly from direct donations: $14.5M by August, and the campaign said it was the only one refusing corporate donations.

5. 5

   On 4 Nov 2026, AP called the race for El-Sayed over Republican Mike Rogers. The people who ran the campaign have not yet published an account.

Copy summary

If you're new to this, start with the fundamentals, from the vote goal to what the research says. Read the fundamentals

In 2025, El-Sayed was a name half the state did not know, up against a congresswoman with establishment support and a state senator with good press. The campaign bet on events, volunteers and small donations. It won the primary by about 15,000 votes and, three months later, the Senate seat.

48.5%

in the 4 Aug 2026 primary (740,950 votes), against 47.5% for Haley Stevensofficial Source

$31.7M

in ads from UDP, AIPAC's super PAC, backing Stevens in the primaryestimate Source

10,000

volunteer sign-ups by 15 Jul 2026, according to the campaigncampaign figure Source

7,649

mentions in election livestream chats from 4 Oct to 2 Nov 2026, the most of any candidate (57% positive)study Source

From church basement to Senate

1. Apr 2025Campaign launch. A first year of town halls around the state, including 10 on campuses.
2. 20 Mar 2026The campaign says it has passed 300 public events in 86 cities and towns, more than 100 of them its own.
3. Mar 2026Mallory McMorrow, Haley Stevens, Elissa Slotkin and the think tank Third Way criticize the planned rallies with Hasan Piker. El-Sayed keeps the dates.
4. 7 Apr 2026Rallies with Piker and Representative Summer Lee at Michigan State and the University of Michigan; in Ann Arbor, the line runs out of the lecture hall and down the street.
5. 14 Apr 2026About 30,000 signatures filed, from all 83 counties, collected by 531 volunteers, according to the campaign. April closes at $1.16M, a monthly record in the race.
6. Jul 2026In early July, McMorrow leaves the race. The campaign reports 10,000 volunteer sign-ups and 20,840 doors in a single weekend.
7. 18 Jul 2026Rally with Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at the Detroit Opera House, with more than 1,000 people. Days later, the 1-844-ABDUL-4-U line opens.
8. 4 Aug 2026El-Sayed wins the primary 48.5% to 47.5%, after about $60M in outside ads backing Stevens. Stevens concedes and endorses him.
9. Oct 2026Ocasio-Cortez puts $1M into the candidacy's joint fund and Sanders gives another million to the race. On 25 October, Trump calls El-Sayed a “jihadist” at a rally in Port Huron.
10. 3–4 Nov 2026On election eve, talk about El-Sayed peaks in livestream chats. On 4 November, AP calls the race for him over Mike Rogers.

Three layers

The campaign combined a small core team, a paid and very young field structure and a network of allies with their own audiences.

• The core teamThe candidate, campaign manager Alia Kapasi, spokesperson Roxie Richner and advisor Max Glass. The digital and data leads do not appear in the sources consulted.
• The fieldAbout 12 regional organizers, many of them students or recent graduates with ties to their communities, and about two dozen fellows on a $250 weekly stipend who recruited volunteers, trained leaders and knocked on doors.
• Allies with an audienceStreamers such as Hasan Piker; national figures such as Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez at rallies and Maxwell Frost and Ruwa Romman at canvass launches; and allied super PACs such as Fighting for Michigan, spending far less than the pro-Stevens side.

What was specific to Michigan in 2026 and may be missing elsewhere.

Platforms

Door knocking and Mobilize

The core of the operation. Volunteer events were listed on Mobilize, the platform Democratic candidates use to sign up volunteers: 86 to 91 a week in July, spread across regions, according to the campaign and Defector.

Town halls, campuses and churches

Before knocking on doors, the campaign spent a year on public events: 10 student town halls in 2025 and more than 300 events in 86 cities and towns by March 2026, from churches and unions to party clubs.

Livestreams on Twitch, YouTube and Kick

Hasan Piker's channel had 3.1 million followers on Twitch and 1.8 million on YouTube. In the month before the election, El-Sayed was the most-mentioned candidate in election livestream chats, according to Streams Charts.

ActBlue and organic social

Online donations went through ActBlue. In the second quarter of 2026, the campaign said it raised more than $20,000 from organic social posts alone.

The 1-844-ABDUL-4-U hotline

Launched in late July 2026: callers could hear the platform, get voting information, listen to a message from Bernie Sanders or leave the candidate a message. The campaign speaks of thousands of calls, with no exact figure.

Paid TV

The campaign spent $5.2M on primary ads, more than the Stevens campaign itself, but outside groups backing Stevens put in $60.5M, according to AdImpact.

Local conditions

• Open seat: Democratic Senator Gary Peters retired. Mike Rogers had lost the 2024 race to Elissa Slotkin by fewer than 20,000 votes.
• In the US, super PACs can spend without limit as long as they do not coordinate with the candidate. Michigan's primary ads totalled $98.2M, a record for a non-presidential primary in the state (AdImpact).
• The United Democracy Project (UDP), the super PAC of AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee), a pro-Israel lobbying group, spent $31.7M backing Haley Stevens, its largest investment in a congressional race. AIPAC describes itself as a coalition of Americans who see the US-Israel alliance as good for both countries.
• Another group, the Center for Democratic Priorities, spent about $6.5M on pro-Stevens ads, according to local reports cited by Al Jazeera, which noted it had not reported the spending to the FEC.
• Israel and Gaza divided Democratic voters. The attack on Temple Israel synagogue in Michigan on 12 March 2026 weighed on the debate over the Piker rallies.
• About half the electorate lives outside southeast Michigan, the Detroit region; the campaign organized in the Upper Peninsula and the north of the state.
• In late January 2026, 55% of Michigan voters did not know El-Sayed (Emerson College, cited by Mondoweiss).
• In the general election, Donald Trump called El-Sayed a “jihadist” at a rally and tied him to the Muslim Brotherhood, with no evidence of any link, according to AP.

The campaign set organized people against organized money: many events and doors, a presence on the channels where young audiences were, and money from small donors, with the opponent's outside spending as the message.

Three fronts

Field before airtime

A year of town halls, then a network of regional organizers and fellows who turned sign-ups into door, phone and text shifts in every region of the state, not just Detroit and Ann Arbor.

Go where the audience already is

Livestreams, campuses, churches, unions and a phone line. The campaign kept its rallies with Hasan Piker under pressure and explained why: shunning a platform means shunning the people who watch it.

People's money against outside money

Direct donations through ActBlue and a refusal of corporate money. Every new pro-Stevens super PAC buy became evidence for the “many versus the money” argument.

The campaign cycle

The cycle as the sources describe it, from the primary to the general election. The steps come from press releases, reporting and the fellows' job posting.

1. Listen Town halls in churches, on campuses and with unions, above all in places Democrats often overlook.
2. Sign up Every event and every post leads to a volunteer form; collecting ballot signatures also served as recruitment.
3. Delegate Fellows and regional organizers recruit by phone, text and in person, train volunteer leaders and log everything in the data tools.
4. Launch Rallies and visits by national figures end in canvass launches: the crowd leaves the event with a list of doors.
5. Amplify Livestreams, short videos and organic posts take the candidate to audiences who don't watch TV; the same posts ask for donations.
6. Contrast Every outside spending figure on the opponent's side becomes a message and a small-donation ask.
7. Respond When attacked, don't drop the ally or the channel, explain the choice, apologize when your own words hurt people and get back to the platform.
8. Get out the vote Voting information on the phone line and several canvass launches a week in the final stretch.

And again.

This playbook draws on what the organizers themselves wrote and said: campaign press releases, interviews El-Sayed and the field team gave to reporters, and a job posting for fellows. One day after the election, no one who ran the campaign has published a review.

• Abdul El-Sayed

  Candidate; physician and former public health official

  Spent his first year holding town halls around the state, refused to cancel his rallies with Hasan Piker and built the campaign around the contrast between organized people and outside money.

  Sources

• Alia Kapasi

  Campaign manager

  Put her name to the post-nomination fundraising report: more than $2.3M in 48 hours from more than 43,000 donors, by the campaign's count.

  Sources

• Roxie Richner

  Campaign spokesperson

  Summed up the race to Axios as “the many versus the money” and put out the volunteer figures the campaign used against its rival.

  Sources

• Max Glass

  Senior advisor

  Used the field numbers to argue that El-Sayed was the stronger candidate against Mike Rogers in the general election.

  Sources

• Mason Pressler

  Field organizer in Bay City; school board member, age 20

  Told Defector the campaign called endorsers and people who knew their regional communities, reached out early to communities that don't always get Democrats' attention and tapped existing progressive networks.

  Sources

• Maxwell Frost

  Florida congressman and former field director; surrogate

  Spoke at canvass launches in the last week of the primary and noticed that rally crowds stayed on to knock doors.

  Sources

• Hasan Piker (HasanAbi)

  Streamer on Twitch and YouTube

  Held rallies with El-Sayed at two universities in April 2026. He told NPR his audience is mostly Democratic and about 60% white men aged 18 to 35.

  Sources

What the organizers said about the decisions they made. Paraphrased unless otherwise noted.

• On the Piker rallies: “My politics resonates with people who have been locked out.” He said he would use every channel he could to reach people who feel the system is built against them.

  Abdul El-Sayed, candidate, Michigan Advance, El-Sayed unfazed by backlash, Mar 2026

• Democrats can't shun certain media platforms, because in effect they are shunning the people who pay attention to them.

  Abdul El-Sayed, candidate, NPR (via GPB), Do internet super stars matter in elections?, 15 Jun 2026

• The nearly 30,000 signatures that put him on the ballot were collected by volunteers who decided they wanted to be part of democracy.

  Abdul El-Sayed, candidate, Campaign press release, 14 Apr 2026

• He calls town halls essential to the way he does politics and sees young people as the engine of the movement; after events he asks latecomers why they came.

  Abdul El-Sayed, candidate, The Nation (StudentNation), 23 Jan 2026

Pick the moves that fit your context and add them to your kit.

1. A rally that ends at the door

   Every rally or visit from a well-known figure ends in a canvass launch, with lists and instructions ready. In Michigan, rally crowds stayed on to knock doors, according to Representative Maxwell Frost.

   How to set it up, step by step

   Works when

   It works when events draw new people and there are organizers to meet the crowd with lists in hand.

   Don't use when

   It doesn't work if the rally is only a show, with no lists, no organizers and no meeting point to come back to.

   1. Week −10 Pick an office or meeting point near each rally
   2. Week −9 Prepare lists of 30 doors per pair for each launch
   3. Week −9 Train organizers to give the instructions in five minutes
   4. Week −8 Announce the rally with the canvass launch time already included
   5. Week −6 Close the rally with the ask: head out to the doors now
   6. Week −6 Regroup at the end, log the results and book the next shift

   Team

   • Field organizer: prepares lists and gives instructions
   • Well-known surrogate: closes the rally by sending everyone to the doors
   • Logging: records who went out, how many doors and who's coming back

   What to measure: Rally attendees who went out the same day on a canvass shift, as a share of the crowd.

   Risks to watch: Untrained newcomers can get lost or argue at the door: always go in pairs, hand out a short script and give a clear rule for people who say no.

   Add to my kitIn my kit

2. Regional organizers and fellows

   A network of regional organizers and fellows on a modest stipend who recruit, train volunteer leaders and knock on doors. In Michigan, about 12 organizers and two dozen fellows at $250 a week took a list of 10,000 sign-ups, by the campaign's count, to every region of the state.

   How to set it up, step by step

   Works when

   It works when you have many sign-ups and too few people to connect them to concrete shifts, and there are young people with time and local ties.

   Don't use when

   It doesn't work with fellows who get no support or days off, or where the law bans or caps paying activists.

   1. Week −20 Split the territory into regions and hire an organizer from each
   2. Week −18 First call the people who already support you in each region
   3. Week −16 Open the fellowships: hours, stipend, length and tasks in writing
   4. Week −14 Give each fellow volunteer leaders and a shift target
   5. Week −12 Post the week's events by region on a public page
   6. Week −10 Review completed shifts by region every week and reassign people
   7. Week −3 Schedule days off for organizers and fellows in the final stretch

   Team

   • Regional organizer: owns the territory and the local leaders
   • Fellow: recruits, onboards and takes volunteers to the doors
   • Volunteer leader: runs shifts in their own neighborhood

   What to measure: Volunteer shifts completed per week in each region, not sign-ups.

   Risks to watch: Young organizers working 12-hour days burn out: put hour limits in writing, pay on time and check the law on paying activists.

   Add to my kitIn my kit

3. Go on livestreams with clear rules

   Take the candidate to the live channels young audiences already watch and stand by that choice under pressure, with a simple explanation. In Michigan, El-Sayed held rallies with Hasan Piker and was the most-mentioned candidate in livestream chats in the final month.

   How to set it up, step by step

   Works when

   It works when the channel's audience can vote in your race and the campaign has a way to turn viewers into sign-ups.

   Don't use when

   It doesn't work if the channel's audience doesn't vote in your race, or if the campaign isn't ready to stand by the host under attack.

   1. Week −24 Map the live channels your voters follow and how many vote in your district
   2. Week −22 Write the rules: what the campaign accepts, and that any payment is disclosed
   3. Week −20 Prepare the answer to foreseeable attacks on the host
   4. Week −18 Do the first stream or rally with a dedicated sign-up link
   5. Week −18 Measure sign-ups and donations per link over the next 72 hours
   6. Week −1 Go back on streams on election eve with the voting plan

   Team

   • Creator liaison: agrees format and rules with the channels
   • Rapid response: has the explanation of the choice ready
   • Data: measures sign-ups and donations per link

   What to measure: Volunteer sign-ups and donations from each stream's link over the following 72 hours.

   Risks to watch: The host brings their own controversial statements and the opponent will use them: decide beforehand whether you accept that cost, disclose any payment and never use paid creators without a label.

   Add to my kitIn my kit

4. The many versus the money

   Small donations, a refusal of corporate money and every outside buy on the opponent's side turned into a message and a donation ask. In Michigan, the campaign had $14.5M in direct donations by August and raised $2.3M in the 48 hours after the primary, by its own count.

   How to set it up, step by step

   Works when

   It works when the opponent relies on visible outside money and the public already distrusts money in politics.

   Don't use when

   It doesn't work if your own campaign takes the kind of money it criticizes, or with numbers that can't be checked.

   1. Week −30 Decide and publish which donations the campaign refuses
   2. Week −16 Track the opponent's outside spending in public sources
   3. Week −12 Turn each new buy into a post with the source and a donation link
   4. Week −8 Publish the quarterly report with donor count and average gift
   5. Week −6 Ask donors to take a shift too
   6. D-day week Prepare the donation ask for election night and the 48 hours after

   Team

   • Digital fundraising: asks, links and reports
   • Research: tracks outside spending in public sources
   • Compliance: checks every donation against the law

   What to measure: Donors who also signed up for a volunteer shift, as a share of all donors.

   Risks to watch: Inflating the opponent's numbers or insinuating what you can't prove destroys the argument: always cite the public source and deal with the opponent on facts.

   Add to my kitIn my kit

5. A voter hotline

   A free, easy-to-remember number with the platform, voting information and a way to leave the candidate a message. In Michigan, the 1-844-ABDUL-4-U line opened less than two weeks before the primary and the campaign speaks of thousands of calls.

   How to set it up, step by step

   Works when

   It works for reaching people who aren't on social media or watching streams, especially older and rural voters.

   Don't use when

   It doesn't work if no one listens to the messages or updates the voting information.

   1. Week −4 Get a toll-free number with an easy-to-remember name
   2. Week −3 Record the menu: platform, how to vote, a supporter's message, leave a message
   3. Week −3 Check the voting information against the official source
   4. Week −2 Promote the number in a short video, an ad and door literature
   5. Week −1 Listen to the messages every day and reply to anyone who asked for contact
   6. D-day week Update the menu with polling places and hours on election day

   Team

   • Line manager: updates the menu and listens to the messages
   • Voter protection: checks voting information against the official source
   • Field: puts the number on door literature

   What to measure: People who called and asked for voting information or left their details to help.

   Risks to watch: Wrong voting information hurts people who trusted the campaign: check the official source, keep contacts only with consent and say how to opt out.

   Add to my kitIn my kit

What the El-Sayed campaign built, laid out so you can copy it. It suits an insurgent candidacy facing an opponent with far more outside money.

What works anywhere and what depended on Michigan and US rules in 2026.

Choose your country

A sequence based on the El-Sayed campaign, from more than a year out to election day, as a checklist. Some items are this playbook's suggestions. Your progress is saved in this browser.

Five questions, each explained after you answer.

The rules below protect the campaign's credibility.

Paid creators always labelled

If the campaign pays a creator, covers travel or gives any support, that must be disclosed in the content; also check local law on paid political content. No source consulted says the El-Sayed campaign paid streamers.

Transparent donations

Check every donation against the law and publish your refusal policy. Refusing corporate money only counts if you stick to it.

Field numbers labelled

Sign-ups, doors and calls released by the campaign are campaign numbers: say so every time you publish them.

Criticize the money, not people

Cite outside spending with its public source (FEC, AdImpact). Don't attribute to the opponent what an outside group did without proof of coordination, and never use anyone's origin or faith as an argument.

No coordinated outside groups

In the US, super PACs may not coordinate with the campaign. Where the law has a similar rule, keep your distance and say so publicly.

Volunteer and voter data

Sign-ups, hotline messages and doorstep answers are personal data. Ask for consent, keep only what you need and say how to opt out; in the EU, the GDPR applies.

Real people only

No fake accounts, bots or inflated stream chats. A stream's weight is measured in the people who sign up.

Look after the team

Maximum hours in writing, days off and stipends paid on time. Young organizers working 12-hour days, seven days a week, burn out.

Local law

Rules on signatures, third-party spending, paying activists and platform advertising vary from country to country. Check with a lawyer before you start.

It doesn't prove what made the difference

The primary was won by about one point. No one has isolated the effect of the field, the streams or the donations, and the campaign has not yet published a review.

The numbers are the campaign's

10,000 sign-ups, 190,000 doors, 30,000 signatures and thousands of calls are figures released by the campaign itself, with no independent verification.

Stream chatter is not votes

The 7,649 chat mentions measure conversation in an ecosystem dominated by a single channel. As Republican strategist Eric Wilson noted, reach only counts if the audience votes in that race.

The ally brings baggage

Piker's past statements, including on Hamas and 9/11 as reported by AP, were used against El-Sayed by rivals and critics. The campaign accepted that cost; another campaign might not withstand it.

Platform risk

The streaming strategy depends on a few channels and on private platforms that can change rules, suspend accounts or be dominated by a single creator.

Money still matters

The campaign also spent millions on TV and had allied super PACs, and in the general election Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez each put $1M into committees backing him. It was not a campaign without money.

Team burnout

A young field structure with long days and modest stipends takes a heavy toll on the people who run it.

This playbook was built from campaign press releases and a job posting, interviews with El-Sayed and the field team, AdImpact spending data, Streams Charts data and reporting from March to November 2026. All pages were consulted on 4 November 2026.

Updated 4 November 2026