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Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell went to see Abdul El-Sayed’s campaign in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as progressive organizers tried to draw young voters ahead of the midterm elections. In a packed University of Michigan lecture hall on Tuesday, Dingell watched from the back as students banged on desks, stomped their feet, and filled the room. Dingell, whose district includes Ann Arbor, later said she was not endorsing El-Sayed by attending.
Dingell framed what she saw as a sign of unusual turnout, telling the Associated Press that she “haven’t seen that many people outside an event yet this year.” Outside, attendees formed a long line stretching down the street and out the door, with many coming straight from class and others traveling from elsewhere in Michigan. She said her presence was “not an endorsement,” despite being a frequent early warning system for her party about shifting political conditions.
In conversation with the AP, several young attendees said their support for the progressive ticket reflected dissatisfaction that does not map neatly onto traditional partisan expectations. They described frustration with both major parties while still showing up to rally for a candidate, and they pointed to a generational mood shaped by the Trump era. Liam Koenig, a high school senior in Oakland County, said he was in third grade when Trump was first elected president and that the period has made politics “just become increasingly more inflammatory.”
Koenig said many in his peer group feel a somber, frustrated strain, adding that “a lot of us have lost hope in, like, tangible change.” He also said he waited for hours to see El-Sayed and described the campaign style as different from what he is used to, likening it to the energy around Zohran Mamdani’s successful run for mayor in New York City. “You’re not going to get people out with business as usual,” Koenig said.
Karol Molina, an artist who recently moved to Michigan from New York City, said she was looking for a candidate in Mamdani’s mold and chose El-Sayed for that reason. Molina said she wants “to be able to live and, like, afford life without constantly scraping by.” She also argued that Democrats are losing because, in her view, “they’re not really listening to what the people really want,” and because “they’re trying to keep a party that existed before Donald Trump. And that party doesn’t exist anymore.”
The rally featured Hasan Piker, a 34-year-old streamer with 3.1 million followers on Twitch and 1.8 million on YouTube, and Piker has been controversial among Democrats for some of his rhetoric. In a recent AP interview, Piker largely defended his past remarks but said some comments were poorly worded, calling renewed focus on them “totally ridiculous, especially considering that there are far more consequential things happening in the world right now.” Attendees at the event described both impatience with party politics and a willingness to show up for a progressive message, even while weighing Piker’s controversy.
Ethan Schneider, a third-year student at the University of Michigan, said politics has become “a little unserious.” Schneider said he voted for Democrat Kamala Harris two years ago but still criticized her and her party, saying, “Hate them.” He added that Democrats “feel very complicit” on issues he said are unfolding, or “If not complicit, they’re just doing nothing,” describing a lack of responsiveness that he said has fueled anger rather than disengagement.
Others described the anger as frustration rather than apathy. Jacob Abbott, an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan, said he believes the Democratic Party has moved toward “corporate interest politics,” and he suggested that backlash around Piker reflects a broader gap in American politics: a lack of speakers who command attention and can channel young people’s frustrations, even if those speakers are “flawed.” Abbott said, “So is Hasan perfect? Probably not. But he’s much better than the alternative the Democratic Party has had.”
Dingell, who has long watched early organizing in Michigan, said she was trying to determine whether the enthusiasm she saw could translate into something more durable. She positioned the moment against a pattern in which progressive candidates often generated excitement without necessarily delivering victories at the ballot box. The AP noted that El-Sayed finished a distant second in Michigan’s Democratic primary for governor in 2018, and that Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont fell short in two Democratic presidential bids.
Other Democrats at the event argued that this moment may be different. Rep. Summer Lee of Pennsylvania said “There should be a progressive running everywhere that one exists,” and added, “Every year, every race.” Lee said progressives might not always win, but should still repeatedly “call the question,” arguing for a steady drumbeat of challenges to established party dynamics. Dingell said she would watch what comes next, asking whether the campaign energy is something “for the kids to do” or whether it will connect in a way that changes politics beyond the rally.
Associated Press writer Linley Sanders contributed to the report. This story was first published on April 9, 2026, and updated on April 11, 2026, to clarify that University of Michigan student Jacob Abbott was speaking broadly about politics and was not referring to specific controversial remarks from Hasan Piker.