- Left-wing political outsider Abdul El-Sayed is projected to win Michigan's Democratic Senate primary, narrowly beating moderate Democrat Haley Stevens.
- The final result was very close, with fewer than 15,000 votes (a margin of just under 1 percentage point out of more than 1.5 million ballots) separating El-Sayed from Stevens.
- Trump declared the Michigan Senate result Great news for the Republican Party, referred to Democrats as Dumocrats, and claimed their crazy policies will only get worse!
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive Michigan-born son of Egyptian immigrants, edged moderate Haley Stevens in a high-profile Michigan Democratic Senate primary, a result exposing bitter divisions within the party over its future direction.12
The final tally showed El-Sayed ahead by fewer than 15,000 votes, a margin of just under 1 percentage point out of more than 1.5 million ballots cast, and he will face Mike Rogers in November.3
El-Sayed was backed by leading progressives, including Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who went to Michigan to campaign for him.
Stevens was supported by Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and other prominent state Democrats. The campaign drew about $60 million in outside money supporting Stevens, including roughly $32 million from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a major pro-Israel group.
El-Sayed labeled Israel's actions in Gaza a genocide, said he would cut U.S. military aid, and argued for a broader critique of U.S. foreign policy. Stevens argued for a steady, manufacturing-focused approach and support for continued Israel aid without conditions.
Analysts said the victory signals Democratic discontent with the political establishment backing Stevens and could foreshadow broader tensions for the party ahead of November.
If elected, El-Sayed would become the nation's first Muslim senator.
Rogers, a former representative and Trump ally, will clash with El-Sayed in a general election that could tilt control of the Senate.
The Republican challenge framed El-Sayed as the most radical Senate candidate in America, while Trump amplified the drama with a post calling the result “Great news for the Republican Party” and railing against Democrats as “Dumocrats” with “crazy policies will only get worse!”4
This contest tests whether Democratic voters will embrace more combative progressivism in a state that has sent both liberal and traditional candidates to Congress and the White House in recent years.
“The final margin was under 1 percentage point, with fewer than 15,000 votes separating El-Sayed from Stevens out of more than 1.5 million ballots counted. Trump, on Truth Social, referred to Democrats as 'Dumocrats' and claimed their 'crazy policies will only get worse!'”
BBC
