Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who is campaigning in Michigan this week for Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, transferred $1 million on Friday to a political account to help elect the fellow progressive to the Senate.
The transfer represents a huge sum for a House member to give to a Senate race, especially one in a different state. But Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, who is considering a run for president in 2028, has made clear that she believes Dr. El-Sayed’s election would give a huge boost not just to Democrats this year but also to the broader progressive movement.
“I’m not waking up on November 4th wishing I did more to combat the smears aimed at Abdul,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement to The New York Times on Friday. “I’m leaving everything I can on the field.”
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez spent Thursday on a bus trip across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula with Dr. El-Sayed and is set to hold three events without him in the Detroit region on Friday.
She made the donation to the Abdul for Michigan Victory Fund, a joint effort between his campaign, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Michigan Democratic State Central Committee.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is openly weighing her next political steps, which could include a presidential run, a re-election campaign or a Senate bid in New York for the seat currently held by Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader.
Mr. Schumer had supported Dr. El-Sayed’s rival in the primary but an allied super PAC has spent more than $30 million so far on Dr. El-Sayed’s bid in the general election.
Whoever wins the Michigan Senate race — Dr. El-Sayed is running neck and neck against Mike Rogers, a Republican former congressman — could determine control of the chamber.
The relationship between the two progressive firebrands goes back to 2018, when Ms. Ocasio-Cortez first ousted a Democratic incumbent in a primary, endorsed Dr. El-Sayed’s campaign for governor and traveled to Michigan to campaign with him. He lost that race.
She endorsed Dr. El-Sayed, a former public health official, during the heated Democratic primary for Senate this year.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez has said that the Michigan Senate race represents an important proving ground for progressives. “If Abdul can win in Michigan, anybody can win anywhere,” she said at a recent fund-raiser for him in New York City.
Michigan has been set as one of the early states in 2028 Democratic presidential primary. Mr. Ocasio-Cortez is hardly alone in showering cash and support on candidates as she considers a run. Gov. Gavin Newsom of California has used his vast email list to raise money for Democratic candidates and state parties across the country. And Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois, who is a billionaire, has given $1 million to support the Democratic nominee for governor in Texas, and has also funded other races.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez reported on Thursday in federal filings that she had raised $4.7 million in the third quarter this year. She entered October with nearly $17.4 million in the bank.
