El-Sayed, Stevens go down to wire in Michigan Democratic Senate primary
by Seth McLaughlin · The Washington TimesThe supercharged Democratic Senate primary between Rep. Haley Stevens and liberal favorite Abdul El‑Sayed was too close to call Wednesday morning, leaving the political world glued to slow‑trickling returns out of the Detroit area.
The polls closed at 9 p.m., but the wait for results stretched on, slowed by a lagging count in Wayne County — the state’s largest and a critical source of Democratic votes — where officials were working through a heavy load of absentee ballots and reconciling precinct tallies before releasing numbers.
Neither candidate had a clear lead early Wednesday though Mr. El-Sayed held an edge of 48.9% to 47.1% with 81% of the votes statewide counted.
The wild card was Wayne County, which was lagging in the count with 65% of its vote tabulated, but giving Ms. Stevens a 7-point advantage thus far.
Both candidates spoke to supporters shortly after 1 a.m. to confirm that the race was too close to call and to position themselves against the Republican nominee, former Rep. Mike Rogers.
Mr. El-Sayed said that “I wish I could tell you I was declaring victory right about now,” and then joked about how “it takes a long time to count the vote in Michigan.”
He called for party unity, saying that “tomorrow we begin to mend fences … always magnanimity in victory” in the name of beating Mr. Rogers.
Ms. Stevens spoke to supporters shortly before that, saying that, “friends, I am feeling good about this race,” and noting the vote still outstanding in Detroit and Macomb County.
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“We are not gonna know the results for a little while … we gotta get some sleep or get some coffee,” she said, after estimating that the results might not be known until Wednesday morning or perhaps later in the day.
One of the most closely watched primaries of the 2026 midterms, the contest tested whether Mr. El‑Sayed’s anti-establishment, populist worldview — backed here by Sen. Bernard Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio‑Cortez — could overcome the more traditional stances of Ms. Stevens in a purple state.
Ms. Stevens, a four‑term congresswoman, had the support of Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and a massive boost from outside groups, including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
The pro-Israel group’s United Democracy Project poured more than $30 million into the race, its largest single‑race expenditure ever.
AIPAC treated Michigan as a must‑hold seat for Democrats aligned with its foreign‑policy priorities, arguing that Mr. El‑Sayed’s calls to end U.S. military aid to Israel represented a sharp break from decades of bipartisan consensus.
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The scale of the spending — unprecedented even for AIPAC — underscored how aggressively the group was willing to intervene in primaries where it saw its influence at stake.
Mr. El-Sayed is of Egyptian heritage and is running to become the first Muslim U.S. senator.
His supporters said the same outside groups that have rigged the system were trying to buy the seat.
In addition to calling for a rethink of U.S.-Israel relations, Mr. El-Sayed, former Wayne County health director and Rhodes scholar, also pledged to fight for Medicare for all, reroute U.S. foreign assistance toward domestic needs, and curb what they view as the corrupting influence of money in politics.
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He led most of the late polling, with particular strength among young voters — highlighting a generational divide that became one of the race’s defining features.
Ms. Stevens ran on her record on manufacturing and the economy, calling her bid “a love letter to Michigan.”
She was hoping for strong support from Black and older voters.
Mr. Schumer, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and party leaders argued she was the more electable choice in a year when Michigan is expected to be central to the fight for Senate control.
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The stakes extend beyond the primary.
The winner will face former Mr. Rogers, the unopposed Republican nominee, in November for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Gary Peters, a Democrat who endorsed Ms. Stevens.
Republicans see the race as a pickup opportunity, especially if Mr. El-Sayed be the nominee.
Democrats likely need to defend the Michigan seat to have any chance of flipping control of the U.S. Senate, which will require a net gain of four seats.
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If Mr. Rogers wins, Democrats would then need five pickups, and the Cook Political Report lists just six Republican-held seats — Alaska, Iowa, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas — as even being in play.
Mr. Rogers narrowly lost a 2024 Senate bid to then‑Rep. Elissa Slotkin, falling just 19,000 votes short.
The result also will help set the tone for the 2028 Democratic presidential race, where an El‑Sayed win could give the left wing renewed confidence in its ability to win in battleground states.
Michigan is expected to be the fifth stop on the Democratic primary calendar.
The unresolved Democratic contest fed into simmering questions about the party’s direction following left wing victories in blue areas, most prominently New York City.
Liberals said the competitive nature of the race showed their message — particularly on Gaza and U.S. military aid to Israel — resonated with younger Americans and voters disillusioned with Washington.
The establishment wing of the party countered that the closeness reflected frustration with Washington more than a mandate for a foreign‑policy overhaul.
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Seth McLaughlin
smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com
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