El-Sayed leads in primary; Stevens stronger in general election polls
The Michigan Senate primary between Rep. Haley Stevens, 43, and Abdul El-Sayed, 41, has emerged as a test of whether the Democratic Party’s progressive or moderate wing holds the advantage in a presidential swing state, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Stevens, a former Obama administration official who won her House seat in 2018, is running on a platform focused on strengthening the Michigan economy, investing in state infrastructure and supporting local manufacturing jobs. She has emphasized her record in Congress, including helping pass the CHIPS and Science Act and pushing multiple manufacturing bills, and her work on President Obama’s Auto Rescue team, which she said saved 200,000 Michigan jobs.
El-Sayed, a trained physician and former healthcare official, is running on a progressive platform that includes Medicare for All, abolishing ICE, taxing billionaires, banning corporate money in politics, and opposition to Israel. He has won the endorsement of the United Auto Workers.
El-Sayed leads Stevens by double digits in primary polling, the Journal reported. But a survey commissioned by the Michigan Education Association and Business Leaders for Michigan showed El-Sayed losing to Rogers in the general election by 10 points, with Stevens winning by slim margins. In that poll, independent voters favored Rogers over El-Sayed by more than 27 points.
The United Auto Workers has endorsed El-Sayed. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Democratic Congressional leadership have backed Stevens. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee has bought tens of millions of dollars worth of ads supporting Stevens, which El-Sayed has criticized.
“Who has credibility to know what is electable?” Amanda Litman, president of Run for Something, told the Journal. “There is no one in charge.”
The race comes as the Democratic Party grapples with its second loss to Trump, a defeat that many Democrats believe was of their own making, according to the Journal. A 2025 Pew survey found that 67% of Democrats felt frustrated with their own party, mostly for not fighting hard enough against the Trump administration. Last year, 62% of Democrats said party leadership should be replaced, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.
Lori Goldman, founder of the Michigan organizing group Fems for Dems, said the 2024 election was a breaking point for her. The group, which helped elect Stevens and other Democratic women in 2018, voted to endorse El-Sayed this year.
“If that’s not a referendum on how weak and out of touch the Democratic Party is, then I don’t know what is,” Goldman told the Journal. “It’s not women that are going to save us, it’s not the Democratic Party that’s going to save us, it’s going to be progressive values that save us.”
The Israel-Hamas war has emerged as one of the sharpest dividing lines among Democrats vying for power, according to the Journal. El-Sayed, who would become the first Muslim senator if he wins, was an early supporter of the Uncommitted movement, which resulted in 13% of voters withholding their votes in the 2024 Democratic primary over President Biden’s policy toward Israel and Gaza. Some Democrats believe that Harris lost Michigan because of Gaza, the Journal reported.
“I think a lot of people are saying that the establishment version of politics lost us the election in 2024,” Michigan state Sen. Darrin Camilleri, who endorsed El-Sayed, told the Journal. “Now folks are looking for something completely different to try to fight back against this new version of Trumpism.”
Democrats currently hold both of Michigan’s Senate seats, and losing one could eliminate any possibility of a Democratic Senate majority. Sen. Elissa Slotkin won her seat last cycle by less than 20,000 votes, the Journal reported.
“At this very critical time, I know she can beat Mike Rogers in the general election,” recently retired Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow said in endorsing Stevens. “The stakes have never been higher.”