By The American Tribune | Created at 2026-08-19 10:16:52 | Updated at 2026-08-19 11:21:50
1 hour ago
Employees at three of America’s largest tech companies have emerged as major sources of donations to Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed. A new analysis of campaign-finance disclosures found that employees of Apple, Google, and Microsoft contributed approximately $141,000 to El-Sayed’s campaign. Workers at the three companies ranked ahead of nearly every hospital, university, nonprofit, and other named employer included in the analysis.
Kevin Bass published the analysis on X alongside a chart comparing donations according to the employers disclosed by individual contributors. Bass excluded broad categories such as self-employed, retired, and unemployed donors, allowing the chart to focus on specific companies and institutions. Michigan health systems and universities occupied several prominent positions, as might be expected for a former public-health official running statewide. Big Tech employees nevertheless accounted for three of the five largest employer-based totals displayed.
Apple employees led the technology companies with approximately $51,000 in contributions, according to the chart. Google employees followed with $48,000, while Microsoft employees contributed another $42,000. The combined $141,000 from those three workforces exceeded the totals attributed to employees of Henry Ford Health or the University of Michigan, the two largest individual institutions on the list. When Nvidia’s $33,000 was included, employees of the four technology companies accounted for approximately $174,000.
“I analyzed donations to Abdul El-Sayed’s Senate campaign,” Bass wrote. “The top 3 tech employee donor $ were Apple, Google, and Microsoft, in that order.” He gave his assessment of the results, writing, “Basically, the most left-leaning, dysfunctional company cultures — furthest behind on AI, who would most benefit from communism.”
The figures represent donations from individuals who identified the companies as their employers, rather than corporate contributions made directly by Apple, Google, or Microsoft. Federal campaign-finance law prohibits corporations from contributing directly to federal candidates, although corporate employees may donate as individuals. The Federal Election Commission reported that El-Sayed’s principal campaign committee raised approximately $14.51 million between January 1st, 2025, and July 15th, 2026, including more than $14.4 million in individual contributions.
El-Sayed has built his campaign around the claim that he is rejecting corporate political influence. His campaign website says it is “100% funded by people like you — not corporations and would-be oligarchs,” while promoting what it calls “Money Out of Politics, Money in Your Pocket, Medicare for All.” The campaign’s published platform calls for banning corporate money in politics, taxing billionaire wealth, abolishing the Senate filibuster, expanding government health care, and using wage-insurance and basic-income programs to address job losses from artificial intelligence. Contributions from company employees don’t technically amount to corporate funding, but the employer totals reveal where a sizable share of El-Sayed’s support is coming from.
El-Sayed has resisted attempts to describe him as a socialist, despite campaigning alongside prominent self-described socialists like Senator Bernie Sanders, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Rep. Rashida Tlaib. “I don’t do ideology,” he said in a recent interview, describing himself instead as “a capitalist who actually read about capitalism.” Michigan Republican Rep. Lisa McClain rejected that distinction, telling Fox News Digital that El-Sayed’s support for higher taxes and expansive government programs placed his platform firmly within socialist politics.
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El-Sayed narrowly defeated establishment-backed Rep. Haley Stevens in Michigan’s Democratic primary after outside groups spent tens of millions of dollars on the contest. He now faces Rogers, a former Republican congressman and FBI agent endorsed by President Donald Trump, for the seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters. Republicans currently hold a 53–47 Senate majority, making Michigan one of the races expected to determine control of the chamber. The first Fox News poll conducted after the primary placed Rogers ahead of El-Sayed by four points, 51% to 47%.
