DETROIT (AP) — Michigan Democrats vote Tuesday in a closely watched Senate primary between moderate U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens and progressive favorite Abdul El-Sayed, with the winner heading to a November contest critical to the party’s hopes of reclaiming the Senate majority.
The nominee will face former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, who is running unopposed after narrowly losing a Senate race in 2024.
Democrats endured a bitter and expensive campaign that became a proxy battle between the party’s establishment and progressive wings. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer backed Stevens, while Sen. Bernie Sanders and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez supported El-Sayed.
Stevens is a four-term congresswoman from the outskirts of Detroit who has focused on manufacturing and the economy in a campaign she called a “love letter to Michigan.”
Asked Sunday about the race being a battle for two Democratic visions, Stevens replied: “It’s a Michigan moment for me, baby.”
Stevens benefited from tens of millions of dollars in outside spending, including the largest investment in a race ever from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which supports pro-Israel candidates.
El-Sayed, a former Wayne County health director, is seeking a political comeback after losing the 2018 gubernatorial primary to now-Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. He campaigned on Medicare for All, campaign finance reform and ending military aid to Israel.
“We’re in a situation right now where the rich keep getting hyper-rich on the backs of figuring out how to monetize everyday people,” El-Sayed told AP during a Sunday afternoon march, as his supporters chanted behind him, “Money out of politics! Money in your pockets!”
Voters are also choosing nominees in competitive House races and to replace Whitmer, who is barred by term limits from seeking reelection. The contentious Republican gubernatorial primary features U.S. Rep. John James, who is backed by President Donald Trump, and businessman Perry Johnson, who has spent millions of his personal fortune to try to clinch the nomination. For Democrats, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is the overwhelming favorite over Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson.
Michigan is a must-win Senate race for Democrats
Democratic Sen. Gary Peters’ retirement announcement in January 2025 stunned the party and set off a scramble to replace him. Hopes for a relatively orderly primary disappeared when Stevens, El-Sayed and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow all entered the race.
More than a year later the contest has become one of the nation’s most contentious Senate primaries. McMorrow suspended her campaign in July, leaving Stevens and El-Sayed to battle for the nomination.
Stevens won election to Congress in 2018 after serving as chief of staff to President Barack Obama’s auto task force, which helped oversee the federal rescue of General Motors and Chrysler. Her campaign and allied groups have repeatedly highlighted that experience, including advertisements featuring Obama calling her “a critical part of my team.”
Backed by Sanders from the outset, El-Sayed cast himself as the anti-establishment candidate and aimed to join the ranks of newcomers winning races this year across the country — sometimes unseating incumbents backed by party leaders, in places like New York and Denver.
He argued that Democrats need to reject corporate influence and embrace a more progressive agenda. In addition to Medicare for All, his campaign centered on lowering prescription drug costs and banning corporate PAC money.
On Sunday, Markita Williams sat in the pews of First Baptist Institutional Church as El-Sayed addressed the congregation. Afterward, she said she had already planned to vote for him.
“I want to see a change,” Williams said. “For everyday people, not just the rich. The everyday people that help run this country.”
Outside influences flood the zone
National groups poured unprecedented sums into the race, making it one of the country’s biggest tests of outside spending.
Groups backing Stevens spent more than $50 million, led by more than $30 million from AIPAC and its affiliates.
The spending thrust Israel policy into the center of the race even though the ads never mentioned it. While El-Sayed called for ending military aid to Israel, Stevens maintained strong support for the relationship.
Israel has become a contentious issue within the Democratic Party amid a war in Gaza that killed more than 73,000 Palestinians in its retaliatory offensive after about 1,200 people were killed and 251 hostages were taken in attacks by the militant group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.
The race also became a proxy fight over the direction of the party. In addition to Schumer, more establishment-aligned senators, such as Peters, backed Stevens, while progressives such as Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Elizabeth Warren lined up behind El-Sayed.
Voters also will decide governor and US House matchups
Trump traveled to Michigan on July 27 and gave a speech at a General Motors plant, at one point calling the gubernatorial hopeful James and several other Republican politicians, including Rogers, onstage. James, a second-term congressman, previously ran twice unsuccessfully for Senate.
The primary turned uglier than Republicans hoped, with Johnson spending big sums of money on ads targeting James. Johnson ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2022 and also launched a longshot presidential bid in 2024.
In the Democratic gubernatorial primary, much of the party including lawmakers and outside groups, such as the United Autoworkers union, coalesced behind Benson.
Meanwhile there are several competitive House races this year that will help decide whether Republicans hold their slim majority or Democrats reclaim the chamber.
In the 4th District, which stretches along Lake Michigan, Democratic state Sen. Sean McCann and election newcomer Diop Harris II are vying to become the nominee to try to oust GOP Rep. Bill Huizenga.
In the 7th District, former U.S. Ambassador Bridget Brink, community organizer William Lawrence and former Navy Seal Matt Maasdam are seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican Rep. Tom Barrett in the seat representing the Lansing area.
James’ decision to run for governor left open his seat in the 10th District, which includes a portion of Oakland County and stretches across conservative communities in Macomb County. In the GOP primary, Trump endorsed Michael Bouchard against Steffan Demetropoulos and Justin Kirk. The Democratic primary features former state House Rep. Tim Greimel, former prosecutor Christina Hines and former Commerce Department attorney Eric Chung.
And in a heavily Democratic district representing Detroit, Rep. Shri Thanedar looks to fend off a primary challenge from state Rep. Donavan McKinney, who argued that the city should once again have a Black representative in Congress. After Thanedar won election in 2022, Detroit had no Black representation in Congress for the first time since the early 1950s
Joey Cappelletti, The Associated Press
