Lansing, Mich., Mayor Andy Schor told CNN that he’s not currently supporting Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, and is not willing to consider backing him without a conversation with El-Sayed about the nominee’s rhetoric around Israel and antisemitism.

Schor, who is Jewish, told CNN he’s uncomfortable with some of the rhetoric used by El-Sayed, and that he has reached out to El-Sayed for a conversation, but hasn’t heard back. “If he doesn’t need me, he doesn’t need me,” Schor told CNN. “And that’s their strategic decision.”

Schor said he also will not support the Republican nominee, former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI).

He’s the latest in a growing list of prominent Jewish Democratic elected officials and other leaders in the state who say they’re uncomfortable with El-Sayed and his campaign and aren’t willing to support him without changes in his platform and rhetoric — if at all.

Capitalizing on that, the Republican Jewish Coalition on Wednesday announced a $2 million ad campaign targeting Jewish voters in Michigan, highlighting Jewish Democrats who refuse to support El-Sayed.

Ads from the group call out El-Sayed’s response to the terrorist attack earlier this year on Temple Israel, featuring several self-described lifelong Democrats saying they will not vote for El-Sayed, including a woman who says in the ad that her grandson attended preschool at Temple Israel.

One woman featured in the advertisements accuses El-Sayed of giving “permission” for further attacks on the Jewish community.

As he tries to appeal to Jewish voters, El-Sayed apologized for his initial comments on the attack, though some Jewish voters found his apology insufficient.

The RJC campaign is targeting Jewish Democrats and independents in Michigan through digital advertisements, mail and get-out-the-vote efforts, with a focus on Oakland County and other areas of the state with sizable Jewish populations.

“Three years ago, on October 7, 2023, Iran-backed terrorists began the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust,” RJC spokesperson Sam Markstein said in a statement on Wednesday. “It is on this solemn day that we are reminded precisely why antisemitic violence can never be excused; the RJC Victory Fund is launching a $2 million dollar GOTV campaign across Michigan’s Jewish community, after Abdul El-Sayed made excuses for the Hezbollah-inspired terrorist who attacked Temple Israel in West Bloomfield this past March.” 

Markstein continued, “We saw the smoke billowing from Temple Israel after the terrorist drove his car filled with explosives into a synagogue while Jewish schoolchildren played inside, and watched as Abdul El-Sayed said, ‘hurt people hurt people.’ A complete disgrace, and totally disqualifying to be Michigan’s next United States Senator. The RJC VF ads feature the voices of lifelong Jewish Democrats from Michigan, who are crystal clear: we will never vote for Abdul El-Sayed.”