El-Sayed edges Stevens in Democratic primary for US Senate in Michigan
Former Wayne County Health Director Abdul El-Sayed speaks at an election night watch party Tuesday in Detroit, Mich. The Democratic primary for U.S. Senate was too close to call at the time he spoke; The Associated Press called the race for El-Sayed at 9:58 a.m. Wednesday. (Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance photo)
U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, center, speaks at meet and greet event July 24 in Detroit with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, right, and U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, left. (Ben Solis/Michigan Advance photo)
Former Wayne County Health Director Abdul El-Sayed speaks at an election night watch party Tuesday in Detroit, Mich. The Democratic primary for U.S. Senate was too close to call at the time he spoke; The Associated Press called the race for El-Sayed at 9:58 a.m. Wednesday. (Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance photo)
U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, center, speaks at meet and greet event July 24 in Detroit with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, right, and U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, left. (Ben Solis/Michigan Advance photo)
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DETROIT - After a grueling primary that saw attacks from Republicans and establishment Democrats alike, Abdul El-Sayed won his race to be the party's nominee to face Republican former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers in the November general election.
Unofficial election results show that El-Sayed was on track to win the race over contender and U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Birmingham. The Associated Press called the race for El-Sayed at 9:58 a.m. Wednesday.
El-Sayed, holding his election night victory party in Detroit, addressed his supporters at about 1 a.m. and said it was too close to call at that point.
"Know that the billionaires, corporations, and the special interests-they weren't going to give up light. We all knew they were going to spend their money," El-Sayed said. "We didn't know they were going to spend $70 million of their money. We didn't know that they were going to outspend us $11 to $1. And yet we're still standing."
State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, who had dropped out of the race in early July, endorsed El-Sayed based on NBC News making the call just before 2 a.m.
"I'm proud to give Abdul my full endorsement and support as we head to November together as a unified party," McMorrow said in a release. "Take it from me -- this was a brutal primary. But whatever differences there were between the candidates in this race, those differences are nothing compared to the contrast in November. Donald Trump and Mike Rogers are banking on all of us being too bruised, too proud, and too hurt to come back together to beat them. Let's prove them wrong."
He will now have to turn his attention not just to Rogers in the general election, but also to mending ties with Stevens' supporters, as Democratic unity will be essential if the party wants to hold the seat being left vacant by the retiring U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township.
Just after the AP called the race for El-Sayed, Stevens issued a statement of congratulations and support for the general election fight ahead.
"I want to congratulate Abdul El-Sayed on winning the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. He is a doctor, a community health official, a Rhodes Scholar, and a dedicated Michigander. I am proud to offer my support as he takes on Mike Rogers in the general election," Stevens said. "This was a thorough and rigorous campaign that brought out the full span of views within the Democratic Party - and that is why we have primaries. I am proud to have put up my hand to serve, and prouder to continue to work together to make sure this Senate seat remains blue, that we flip the United States Senate and continue the work for Michigan."
El-Sayed, the son of Egyptian immigrants, would be the first Muslim U.S. senator if elected in November.
The win sets up a showdown with Rogers, who ran uncontested in the Republican primary. Rogers has been able to gather resources, mainly cash, while the Democrats battled it out wire-to-wire.
Rogers -- who lost his 2024 race against current U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly -- has $4.41 million cash on hand according to pre-primary FEC filings.
Meanwhile, between April 1 and June 30, El-Sayed raised $4.57 million and spent $4.37 million, leaving him with $2.7 million cash on hand.
El-Sayed has carved out a lane that had pundits calling him both a Barack Obama-type figure for the Democrats and Michigan's less-socialist Zohran Mamadani. El-Sayed routinely disavowed the democratic socialist label that followed some of his key policy planks, saying he was a capitalist who sees its inherent flaws and wants to fix them.
He did so by centering his campaign on Medicare for All, new leadership in the U.S. Senate, overtures on anti-corporate election interference and on upending decades of U.S. foreign policy -- namely, military and diplomatic aid to Israel.
While Stevens focused on kitchen table issues like affordability, resistance to the administration of President Donald Trump and rebuilding the might of Michigan's manufacturing, El-Sayed captured the growing disdain within the Democratic Party for corporate money in politics and the U.S. relationship with Israel. El-Sayed was the first candidate in the race to declare his belief that Israel had committed genocidal actions in its ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza.
As Stevens played to the middle, El-Sayed banked on Michigan's Democrats joining his new coalition, which included young college-aged or college-educated progressives, union members, climate and anti-fascist activists, and women who were quickly becoming the core of the resistance movement against Trump and the actions of his administration.
Until just the last few weeks before Tuesday's primary, El-Sayed had been framed as the race's underdog. Although progressives had shown some strength this year with wins in New York for Mamdani and others, a great many pundits and election observers questioned whether the growing wave of progressive populism could find a root in Michigan, often called the purplest of Midwestern swing states.
El-Sayed had some name recognition from his 2018 Democratic gubernatorial bid, which he lost decisively to current Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and his time as a progressive celebrity working in the Bernie Sanders sphere of influencers and podcasters. That attracted people like Sanders to his campaign effort, but also more controversial figures like streamer and commentator Hasan Piker.
Whitmer, who had given Stevens a late endorsement, was quick to offer congratulations to all of the Democratic nominees following El-Sayed's win.
"Congratulations to Jocelyn Benson, Abdul El-Sayed, and every Democrat who won up and down the ballot. They've got my support as we fight like hell, together, to win in November," Whitmer said in a news release. "There was a lot of passion and energy in these primaries, and that's a good thing -- Democrats are ready to beat Republicans across the state. We're all united by our shared goal: getting things done for the people of Michigan. We know there's so much on the line this November -- health care, costs, our fundamental freedoms. That's why it's time to come together, get to work, and win in November."
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Minnah Arshad contributed to this story. Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit. For more, go to https://michiganadvance.com.