Anti-Israel progressive Abdul El-Sayed was projected by NBC News to win Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary Wednesday, narrowly defeating moderate, pro-Israel Rep. Haley Stevens in a closely watched contest seen as a test of the party’s future direction.
With 92.9% of ballots counted, El-Sayed held 48.7% of the vote to Stevens’ 47.3%. NBC projected that the remaining ballots would not be enough for Stevens to erase the gap, although counting was still underway.
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Abdul El-Sayed and Haley Stevens
(Photo: Finn Gomez / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP, Robin Buckson/Pool via REUTERS)
El-Sayed is now expected to face Republican nominee Mike Rogers in November in a battleground-state race that could prove decisive in the fight for control of the Senate.
The Michigan primary carried national significance because it pitted two sharply different visions of the Democratic Party against each other. El-Sayed represented its increasingly powerful progressive wing, while Stevens was backed by moderates, party leaders and pro-Israel organizations that viewed her as the stronger general election candidate.
Progressive candidates have scored a series of victories in recent months, but most came in safely Democratic strongholds such as New York and California. Michigan is different: It is a closely divided state won by President Donald Trump in 2024 and one where Rogers lost a previous Senate race by only about 20,000 votes.
El-Sayed’s apparent victory therefore offers progressives an opportunity to prove that a candidate from the party’s left flank can compete not only in liberal districts but also in a state where independent and swing voters will determine the outcome.
Stevens narrowed El-Sayed’s early lead as ballots from Detroit, Flint and predominantly Black communities where she performed strongly entered the count. The late gains, however, appeared insufficient to change the result.
Abdul El-Sayed speaks on Michigan Democratic primary election night during the US midterm campaign
(Photo: JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP)
Both candidates addressed supporters before the outcome was clear, acknowledged that final results could take several hours and urged Democrats to unite against Rogers.
“If we are going to win this thing, and we are going to win this thing, we have got to get ready and show Mike Rogers what we’re made of,” Stevens told supporters.
El-Sayed urged Democrats to deliver a blow to “Trumpism” by defeating Rogers.
“Tomorrow we begin the work of healing,” he said. “Whatever happens tonight, it is our responsibility to come together to make sure Mike Rogers never sees the inside of the United States Senate.”
A test of the Democratic Party’s direction
Moderate Democratic leaders rallied around Stevens during the campaign, arguing that her centrist record and experience made her more likely to defeat Rogers in November. Progressives countered that voters were looking for fundamental change and could be energized by policies including government-funded universal health care.
The dispute over Israel became one of the campaign’s defining issues.
AIPAC’s political network poured $32 million into efforts supporting Stevens, reportedly its largest investment in a single race. Combined with other major contributions, spending supporting her candidacy reached $62.2 million, compared with $2.1 million by El-Sayed’s campaign.
El-Sayed repeatedly attacked the role of corporate and pro-Israel money in the race, describing Stevens as “a walking suit with a fat AIPAC bank account.”
(Photo: REUTERS/Rebecca Cook)
Stevens largely avoided discussing Israel in campaign advertisements. Instead, she emphasized her experience in former President Barack Obama’s administration, where she worked on efforts to rescue Michigan’s auto industry following the 2008 financial crisis.
She presented herself as a “workhorse” and portrayed El-Sayed as a “show horse” already looking toward a future presidential campaign.
Although Stevens identifies as pro-Israel and supports continued U.S. military assistance, she also backs a two-state solution and has accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of posing “a danger to Jews in America and around the world.”
El-Sayed’s fierce criticism of Israel
El-Sayed, 41, is a physician and epidemiologist who previously led the health department in Wayne County, Michigan.
He has accused Israel of “apartheid” and “genocide,” called the Israeli government as “evil” as Hamas and demanded an end to all U.S. assistance to Israel.
He also drew anger from members of Michigan’s Jewish community after rejecting Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, arguing that such a definition was fundamentally incompatible with liberal values.
His campaign faced further controversy after a former employee, 24-year-old Maryam Odeh of Dearborn, was arrested and accused of participating in a campaign of threats and vandalism targeting Jewish officials at the University of Michigan and the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.
Authorities accused Odeh and seven other students of making threats to murder Jews under cover of darkness.
(Photo: AP Photo/Kristen Norman)
El-Sayed said harming families or property was wrong, but later argued that pro-Palestinian activists had been prosecuted because of their political beliefs rather than their conduct. He compared their treatment with the Trump administration’s more lenient approach toward participants in the Capitol riot.
Following a vehicle attack at a synagogue in West Bloomfield last year, El-Sayed released a video linking the attack to reports that the assailant had lost relatives in Israeli strikes in Lebanon. The video concluded with the phrase: “Hurt people hurt people.”
El-Sayed has never held elected office. He ran for Michigan governor in 2018 but lost the Democratic primary to current Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
His charisma has earned him the nickname “Michigan’s Obama” among both supporters and critics.
During the Senate campaign, he turned accusations that he was “dangerous” into a recurring theme, saying he posed no threat to ordinary Americans but was dangerous to corporations, insurers and AIPAC.
“If you are AIPAC and you want to send our money overseas, you better believe I’m dangerous,” he said at one rally.
Progressives score mixed results
The Michigan primary was one of several contests Tuesday pitting Democratic progressives against establishment-backed candidates.
Progressive William Lawrence won the Democratic nomination in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, defeating former Navy SEAL Matt Maasdam and former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink.
Former congresswoman Cori Bush, right, with Palestinian American lawmaker Rashida Tlaib during President Joe Biden’s address to Congress in 2024
(Photo: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)
In another Michigan House race, progressive Donavan McKinney held a narrow lead over incumbent Rep. Shri Thanedar as votes were counted.
But pro-Israel Democrats received better news in Missouri, where Rep. Wesley Bell defeated former congresswoman Cori Bush in a rematch.
Bell, who received support from AIPAC, won 59.2% of the vote to Bush’s 36.9%. Bush, a former member of the progressive “Squad,” had been one of Congress’ most outspoken critics of Israel.
The mixed results showed that the battle over the Democratic Party’s direction remains unresolved. El-Sayed’s apparent victory, however, demonstrated that the progressive wing can compete in one of the country’s most consequential swing states, even against overwhelming financial opposition.