A former high-ranking Michigan Democrat is urging voters who cannot support Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, but also reject Republican Mike Rogers, to skip that contest on the Nov. 3 ballot. His blunt recommendation is simple: “Leave it blank.”
Lon Johnson, a former Michigan Democratic Party chairman, presented [1] the option during an appearance Wednesday on “On Balance.” Rather than backing either major party nominee, Johnson said voters could pass over the Senate race while still participating in the election.
That ballot choice is technically known as an undervote. It allows someone to cast votes in other contests without selecting a candidate in the closely watched Senate race.
Johnson emphasized that he was not calling on Michigan residents to stay home or abandon the rest of the ballot. Instead, he framed the blank Senate selection as a legitimate response for voters who believe neither candidate deserves their support.
“This is not an effort to encourage people not to vote,” Johnson said. “I believe there’s dignity in leaving the ballot blank.”
Johnson said his objection extends to both nominees, though for different reasons. He and other Democrats have serious concerns about El-Sayed, while Johnson also accused Rogers of extremism.
“I and many others have a problem with Abdul. But at the very same time, we see the extremism that’s been emanating from Mike Rogers, and we’re not going to vote for him,” Johnson said.
El-Sayed is a former public health administrator aligned with the Democratic Party’s progressive wing. He narrowly defeated moderate U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens in the Democratic primary in August, securing the party’s nomination for the Senate seat.
Johnson has argued that the primary victory did not settle the divisions inside the party. In a recent opinion piece written with former Democratic elections strategist David Kramer, the two criticized El-Sayed’s conduct following the primary.
Johnson and Kramer said El-Sayed had not done enough to bring the party together after narrowly defeating Stevens. They also argued that he had not distanced himself from positions they regard as extreme.
“Legitimate frustration with the political establishment cannot justify surrendering our party to ideological extremism,” Johnson and Kramer wrote. Their warning amounted to an unusually public rebuke of their own party’s Senate nominee during a tight general election campaign.
The two Democrats also rejected the idea that party affiliation automatically obligates voters to support El-Sayed. Their argument placed the burden on the candidate to win over skeptical members of the coalition rather than simply demand their votes.
“Supporting a candidate is a choice, not an obligation. Party loyalty is not blind obedience. Support must be earned, and a vote is never owed,” Johnson and Kramer wrote.
For me, the only dignified choice is to leave the Senate race blank—an undervote representing a rejection of ideological absolutism. This makes me no less a Democrat. I refuse to be complicit in excusing or accepting extremism to beat extremism. The madness has to stop somewhere.
https://t.co/UVoe7r8sDF— Lon Johnson (@LonJohnson48226) October 19, 2026 [2]
The dispute comes as El-Sayed and Rogers remain locked in a close race. The outcome could help determine whether Democrats gain control of the Senate, raising the stakes of Johnson’s invitation for dissatisfied voters to leave the contest unanswered.
Rogers is a former congressman endorsed by President Trump. He has attempted to portray El-Sayed, a Muslim who has criticized the Israeli government, as beholden to foreign interests and ideologies.
El-Sayed has responded by arguing that Rogers would serve as a rubber stamp for Trump administration policies. Those policies, according to El-Sayed, include immigration enforcement that is overly aggressive.
The two nominees met Wednesday for their final debate. Their confrontation unfolded as Johnson’s public refusal to support either candidate highlighted the unresolved fractures surrounding the Democratic nominee.
Johnson’s position offers disaffected Democrats a third path without asking them to support Rogers. They can vote elsewhere on the ballot while withholding their endorsement from a nominee Johnson says has not earned it.
For Democrats hoping to capture the Senate, that is hardly a comforting development in a tight race. A former state party chairman is not merely withholding enthusiasm from El-Sayed, but openly telling similarly dissatisfied voters that leaving the contest blank carries dignity.