LANSING — Defying the Democratic establishment and an onslaught of outside spending against him, Abdul El-Sayed narrowly won Michigan’s fiercely contested US Senate primary and will advance to the general election against Republican Mike Rogers.
The Associated Press called the race for El-Sayed Wednesday at 9:56 a.m., declaring him the winner over Democratic rival Haley Stevens. He led by 1% with 99% of all ballots counted.
Speaking earlier Wednesday, before the race was called, El-Sayed thanked supporters for joining what he called a movement “built on the foundation of what this government was supposed to be in the first place, government of the people, by the people.”
El-Sayed ran on a progressive platform promising universal health care and rejection of corporate donations. His victory is a watershed moment for the insurgent wing of the Democratic Party, which viewed the Michigan race as a proving ground for progressives’ viability in competitive swing states.
“Shockwaves are being felt across the political world,” Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said in a statement. “Abdul’s primary victory sends a signal to every other Democratic politician – if you fight powerful interests, you can win.”
Rejected by some of the biggest names in Michigan Democratic politics and heavily outspent, El-Sayed made the case to voters that he didn’t need that support to win, and that Democrats would be better off with a candidate not beholden to the establishment of special interests.
“His voice is strong for our community and the American people,” said Mohammad Abedin, a 49-year-old Pontiac postal clerk who voted for El-Sayed on Tuesday. “His voice is strong for people, for democracy, and he is an honest person.”
Related:
- How Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan: Big turnout, liberal towns, walkup votes
- Who is Abdul El-Sayed? What to know about Michigan Democrats US Senate winner
- Election results for Michigan’s biggest races
- Full coverage of Democratic gubernatorial primary
- Full coverage of Republican gubernatorial primary
Stevens called El-Sayed Wednesday morning to concede the election, her campaign told Bridge Michigan.
“I’m proud to offer my support as he takes on Mike Rogers in the general election,” Stevens said in a statement, urging Democrats to rally around El-Sayed in the general election. Rogers and Republican President Donald Trump “want us to come out of this primary tired and divided,” she added.
Mallory McMorrow, who suspended her campaign for the Democratic nomination last month but remained on the ballot, took 4% of the statewide vote. Shortly after 2 a.m. Wednesday, she announced El-Sayed had her “full endorsement and support” after what she called a “brutal primary.”
On to the general election
El-Sayed’s next big challenge: Convincing independents and other persuadable voters to back him in the general election.
Rogers is a formidable candidate who only narrowly lost a 2024 US Senate bid to Democrat Elissa Slotkin. A former member of Congress, he has blasted El-Sayed as a far-left socialist and suggested he’d be easier to defeat than Stevens this fall, an argument she amplified in the primary.
“The choice this November is simple: common sense or complete insanity,” Rogers said in a Wednesday morning statement. “Abdul doesn’t represent a vision for the future. He’s leading a movement grounded in ideological fanaticism. His agenda would make our communities less safe and our state less affordable.”
Conservative groups were also quick to attack El-Sayed, arguing his views are too extreme for Michigan, including past comments on “defunding the police” and more recent calls to abolish the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
“El-Sayed’s radical agenda … is a direct attack on Michigan families,” said Chris Gustafson, communications director for the Senate Leadership Fund super PAC aligned with Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune.
He called El-Sayed “a dangerous threat to the safety and freedoms of every American” and said his group is proud to support Rogers.
In his Wednesday morning remarks to supporters, El-Sayed urged Democrats to turn their attention to Rogers, calling him a “corporate sellout” and criticizing his ties to the pharmaceutical industry when he served in the US House from 2001 through 2014.
“He’s both the worst of the Neo-con era, and the worst of the MAGA era, and I just think that’s the worst of all, because at least you should know who you are,” El-Sayed told supporters Wednesday morning.
“But I promise you, Mike, by the time we are done with you, all of Michigan is going to know who you are.”
The progressive favorite
A former Wayne County public health official and doctor by training, El-Sayed’s core message became a campaign slogan and rallying cry for supporters: “Money out of politics, money in your pocket, Medicare for All.”
Drawing from his experiences in public health, El-Sayed distinguished himself from other Democratic hopefuls early on by advocating for a government-backed, single-payer healthcare system he argues would help bring down costs.
After US citizens were killed in Minnesota by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, El-Sayed called for the agency to be abolished.
He’s also taken a hardline stance on artificial intelligence, calling for public ownership and strict regulation of AI companies as well as “terms of engagement” to hold data center projects accountable if they don’t meet utility usage and environmental requirements.
El-Sayed hasn’t been shy about touting his progressive credentials, campaigning with movement favorites US Sen. Bernie Sanders and US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, along with Hasan Piker, a controversial left-wing Twitch streamer.
But he also appealed heavily to key Democratic blocs like the labor movement, winning a coveted endorsement from the powerful United Auto Workers union.
El-Sayed has said he doesn’t consider himself a Democratic socialist and rejects the notion that his views are extreme in today’s political climate.
“In an era where our premiums are quickly pricing people out, I think being for Medicare for All is…the moderate position,” he previously told Bridge. “In an era where Trump is weaponizing ICE against the Constitution itself, I think abolishing ICE is a moderate position.”
‘David beats Goliath’
As Election Day neared, El-Sayed’s call for money out of politics became more relevant to his own race as millions of dollars in outside spending flowed into the state through issue ads and mailers, most of which benefited his opponent or attacked his character.
A July 31 analysis from AdImpact estimated a total of $98.2 million in ad spending or reservations so far, making it the third most expensive Senate primary in US political history. On the Democratic side, outside accounted for 88% of all spending.
One of the biggest spenders: the United Democracy Project, a political action committee affiliated with the pro-Israel group American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC. The group’s ads touted Stevens and hammered El-Sayed, who is a vocal critic of the Israeli government and US involvement in Gaza.
Despite the lopsided spending to benefit Stevens, El-Sayed led in recent surveys of likely primary voters, suggesting many Democrats may have tuned out or rejected the advertising onslaught.
Traverse City resident Melissa Hoeppner, a 54-year-old teacher, said Tuesday that El-Sayed’s call to get “money out of politics” spoke to her, calling the tens of millions of dollars spent by outside groups in the race “a ridiculous waste of funds.”
That money could have been “better utilized for other things in our country,” she said.
El-Sayed recently began likening his campaign to the biblical battle of David and Goliath, noting in one interview, “David beats Goliath.”
In a recent interview with Bridge Michigan, Sanders — who in 2016 narrowly won Michigan’s Democratic presidential primary in an upset over Hillary Clinton — argued there’s more at stake this year than the ideological debate between the Democratic Party’s moderate and progressive factions.
“We should not have an election in which billionaire super PACs have enormous influence,” he said. “If they get away with it in Michigan, it will spread all over this country, and that is the undermining of American democracy.”
The electability question
Stevens, El-Sayed’s opponent, had raked in endorsements from many high-profile current and former Michigan elected officials, most notably US Sen. Gary Peters, former US Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
The common refrain by Stevens and her supporters came down to general election electability: A more moderate candidate will perform better with moderates and independents in a general election matchup, they argued, implying that nominating El-Sayed could cost Democrats the Senate seat and a chance at flipping the chamber’s majority.
At one point, Stevens’ campaign even sent out a satirical “endorsement” by Rogers for El-Sayed, citing comments first reported by CNN where Rogers said he’d be in “good shape” if El-Sayed won the primary.
But some El-Sayed supporters told Bridge they viewed Stevens’ establishment support as a deterrent.
“Stevens is more of a career politician, and we’re long overdue for a changeup, generally,” said Lucas Moquin, a 33-year-old Alpena restaurant worker.
Detroit resident Mary Spencer, 29, said the 2026 primary was the most excited she’s been in a long while about an election, telling Bridge she was “happy” to vote for El-Sayed because of his support for universal health care and keeping taxpayer money in Michigan.
Spencer, who works in communications, went to one of his rallies a couple months ago and found it inspiring. She believes it’s time for the Democratic Party to try a different strategy.
“People need to quit worrying so much about ‘electability’ and just kind of go with their gut,” Spencer said.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under our Republication Guidelines. Questions? Email republishing@bridgemi.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.