National Democrats see contest as test of party’s direction
The Guardian reported that residents in key battlegrounds “aren’t following the daily beats of the primary” and “don’t much want to,” even as the race is one of the most closely followed Senate contests in the November midterm elections.
The field narrowed to two candidates on July 5, when state Sen. Mallory McMorrow suspended her campaign. As MSI previously reported, McMorrow’s exit left the race to Rep. Haley Stevens, a four-term congresswoman aligned with the Democratic establishment, and Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive former public health official endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
The New York Times described the remaining contest as “a bitter one-on-one fight between an ardent progressive and a moderate backed by Washington leaders,” writing that “perhaps no other Democratic primary in the country this year will have as clear a contrast between the direction voters could choose.”
El-Sayed, 41, is the son of Egyptian immigrants whose sharply progressive views align with those of Sen. Bernie Sanders, according to CNN. He is seen by many Democrats in Washington as the kind of candidate they fear: someone who wins a primary and loses in November, costing the party a shot at the Senate majority. El-Sayed dismissed that concern, telling CNN: “I think there is this notion that electability is about being the least offensive. If that were true, why would Donald Trump have won the presidency twice?”
The Washington Examiner reported that the race has become “the next major battleground in the Democratic Party’s escalating fight between establishment leaders and insurgent progressives,” with Democrats increasingly viewing it as a test of whether the party’s antiestablishment wave can expand beyond deep-blue enclaves.
Michigan’s open Senate seat is emerging as a GOP hedge against a potential Democratic takeover, according to CNN. Democrats need to net four seats to flip the chamber.
The primary is scheduled for Aug. 4.