Abdul El-Sayed of Detroit, Candidate for Governor, Feels Like a Target

[TexasTowelie]

Any statewide political campaign is a scary leap, though typically not the way Dr. Abdul El-Sayed of Detroit experiences it.

The first-time candidate, who seeks the Democratic nomination for governor in August's primary, "has already inspired death threats serious enough to report to the FBI," Lou Blouin writes in Hour Detroit.

El-Sayed, a 33-year-old former Detroit health director recruited in 2014 by Mayor Mike Duggan, mounts "the first serious gubernatorial candidacy by a Muslim in any state, the magazine's associate editor adds in a January cover article. It says:

His campaign manager, a veteran of several memorable Democratic primaries, admits he finds it surprising that the alt-right websites are busy with misinformation this early in the campaign. It's the reason that, for now, they're keeping all but two of their staff's names out of the media and the location of the campaign office private. They recently got El-Sayed a bodyguard.

The young politician, born and raised in Metro Detroit, is the son of an Egyptian engineer who immigrated here in 1978 and an Egyptian doctor (his mother). Blouin describes El-Sayed as displaying "so-what nonchalance" about his ethnicity:

Read more: http://www.deadlinedetroit.com/articles/19063/abdul_el-sayed_of_detroit_candidate_for_governor_feels_like_a_target_literally#.WlgYrHlG3RY