The Democratic primary in Michigan has turned into a high-stakes battle between far-left and center-left factions of the party, with Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez lending their support to Abdul El-Sayed, the progressive candidate.
El-Sayed, a former director of the Wayne County Health Department, is facing off against Rep. Haley Stevens, a more moderate lawmaker backed by the party establishment. The two candidates will make three campaign trail stops together with El-Sayed.
The Democratic primary became a two-way race after progressive state Sen. Mallory McMorrow suspended her campaign, citing her inability to keep pace with her rivals. Stevens currently holds a seven-point lead over El-Sayed in a recent poll.
El-Sayed's campaign focuses on support for Medicare-for-all, abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and criticizing Israel's actions in Gaza, which he has characterized as "genocide" against Palestinians. He has also vowed not to accept PAC donations.
The party establishment views Stevens as more electable than El-Sayed, who has sparked controversy with his past comments. They worry that El-Sayed as the party's nominee would jeopardize the Democrat-controlled Senate seat by pushing the party too far to the left in a state that President Donald Trump carried by just over one percentage point two years ago.
Peters, the retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, has endorsed Stevens, but El-Sayed has accused him of being influenced by special interest groups. The primary clash has become expensive, with outside groups spending big bucks to flood the campaign trail with ads.
The outcome of the primary will determine the Democratic nominee for the Senate seat, which is a top Republican target in the midterms. A victory by El-Sayed would give the far left a major win on a statewide stage, but some experts warn against reading too much into the results, citing idiosyncratic factors such as the large Arab American population in Michigan.
Candidates matter, and every single election happens under a different set of circumstances, said veteran Democratic strategist Joe Caiazzo. The stakes are monumentally high, as Democrats must hold this seat in November to maintain control of the Senate.
