Voters are faced with the thorny question of electability: who can win this purple state in November and potentially push Democrats toward a US Senate majority?

At Chad Green’s house in Davison, Michigan, a brood of baby chicks roamed around the idyllic green lawn as US senators pitched a couple dozen voters on why they should turn out for the hopeful one, Abdul El-Sayed.

Green, a retired federal firefighter, hosted a similar small gathering for Mallory McMorrow, who was running for the US Senate before she dropped out of the race in early July, narrowing the contest to El-Sayed, a progressive insurgent campaigning for universal healthcare, and US representative Haley Stevens, who has branded herself as a workhorse.

Democrats Warren and Van Hollen attack Republican ‘rubber stamps’ in Congress for ceding authority to Trump

Senior Democrats accused Republicans in the US Congress of becoming “gelatinous blobs” who won’t stand up to Donald Trump and “rubber stamps” for his war on Iran.

Elizabeth Warren, a US senator for Massachusetts, and Chris Van Hollen, a US senator for Maryland, argued that the Republican-controlled Congress had surrendered its constitutional authority to the president.

Abdul El-Sayed may be buoyed by a younger, anti-establishment coalition as he runs against an establishment candidate

Abdul El-Sayed spends a fair amount of his day not taking himself so seriously. He jokes about his haircut, films selfie videos with supporters and has taken – more than once – to cringey dancing and lip-syncing on camera.

But ask him after a long day on the campaign trail to explain the difference between a virus and a bacterium, and the epidemiologist takes over from the entertainer.