A Democratic Michigan Senate candidate who rails against billionaires and promises to fight for “an economy that works for everyone” just got caught living in the top 1% himself.
Abdul El-Sayed, running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Democrat Gary Peters, released partial tax returns showing he and his wife pulled in an adjusted gross income of $675,246 in 2025 — well above Michigan’s top 1% threshold of $611,000.
The disclosure came only after El-Sayed faced mounting pressure from his Democratic primary opponent, Haley Stevens, to honor his transparency pledge and release the filings before the August 4 primary, according to Wood TV.
“My wife and her family own property abroad, so getting all those tax forms is a thing.”
That’s how El-Sayed explained the delay. But the partial release still doesn’t disclose all his income streams — and his net worth remains undisclosed, though estimates place it between $580,000 and $1.7 million.
The breakdown: $130,749 in wages, $262,299 in capital gains, and $292,881 in “additional income.”
El-Sayed’s campaign said the capital gains came from selling a house his in-laws bought for him and his wife, along with revenue from his little-known podcast America Dissected and his wife’s psychiatry practice, Mind Work Psychiatry.
El-Sayed had previously described his tax return as “mundane” and “standard.” In an interview, he admitted he’s likely a millionaire, saying his and his wife’s combined assets would “add up to something like that,” but insisted his career “has never been about trying to maximize on money.”
On his campaign website, El-Sayed bills himself as a physician-turned-politician fighting for “healthcare for all” and vows to stand against “Trump’s billionaire friends.”
Yet his wife’s psychiatry practice doesn’t accept Medicare — or any insurance at all — even as El-Sayed campaigns on a “Medicare for All” platform, according to reporting by the Washington Free Beacon.
El-Sayed has distanced himself from the Democratic Socialist label, but he’s earned endorsements from Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar.
The Democratic primary is August 4. The winner faces Republican Mike Rogers in November.
Abdul El-Sayed says he asked to delay his financial disclosures until after the Michigan primary because "my wife and her family own property abroad, so getting all those tax forms is a thing."
When asked if he is a millionaire, he says it's unfair to compare his and Haley… pic.twitter.com/SJ4UGDJGZb
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) July 8, 2026
