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DETROIT — <\/span>Michigan Democrats will gather Friday in a show of unity behind their statewide candidates, three days after a bitter U.S. Senate contest highlighted divisions between the progressive and moderate wings of the party.<\/p>\n Abdul El-Sayed<\/a>, a former public health official who narrowly beat<\/a> establishment-backed Rep. Haley Stevens in a contentious primary for an open Senate seat, will be the most closely watched candidate at the event. <\/p>\n With less than three months before the general election where El-Sayed will face Republican Mike Rogers, the Democratic Party is under pressure to close ranks in a race that will help determine control of the Senate. <\/p>\n \u201cThe things that unite us are so much bigger than the things that divide us,\u201d El-Sayed said in a Wednesday speech.<\/p>\n Former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, a potential presidential candidate who lives in Michigan, is also slated to attend on Friday. <\/p>\n Current Democratic Sen. Gary Peters\u2019 decision to not seek reelection<\/a> left the seat open. Michigan is a perennial battleground state, having voted for President Donald Trump in 2016, Joe Biden in 2020 and Trump again in 2024.<\/p>\n Stevens, who lost the primary by just under 1 percentage point, told CBS News on Thursday she was willing to campaign with El-Sayed. <\/p>\n \u201cWhatever he wants me to do,” she said. <\/p>\n Gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson, who easily won her primary<\/a>, is scheduled to attend the event as well. She will face Trump-backed Rep. John James in the general election. <\/p>\n Also slated to attend will be Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, who is running for secretary of state; Eli Savit, who is running for attorney general; and Curtis Hertel, chair of the Michigan Democratic Party. <\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n GaNun is a corps member for The Associated Press\/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America<\/a> is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n