Stevens and El-Sayed clash in final Michigan Senate debate

Abdul El-Sayed and Rep. Haley Stevens sparred over outside spending, Israel, campaign rhetoric and electability Monday in the final televised debate before Michigan Democrats choose their nominee for an open U.S. Senate seat next week.

The Aug. 4 primary will decide who advances in the race to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters. The winner is expected to face former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers in November in a state Donald Trump won in 2024.

The contest has become an expensive and bitter proxy fight over the Democratic Party’s direction. Stevens, who has represented parts of the Detroit area in the House since 2019, is aligned with the party’s moderate wing and has endorsements from Peters and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. El-Sayed, a physician and former Detroit health director who also held a top Wayne County health post, is running as a progressive and has support from Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Much of the debate focused on outside spending. El-Sayed criticized Stevens over support from groups tied to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, citing her July vote against an amendment that would have cut $3.3 billion in annual military aid to Israel. He called that assistance the “worst use of our tax dollars.”

Stevens denied that outside spending would shape her views as a senator. She said she supports a two-state solution and pointed to her recent criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. She also noted that a super PAC backing El-Sayed, Fighting for Michigan PAC, received $300,000 from his father-in-law, Jukaku Tayeb.

“I don’t think there’s much difference between super PACs going in for Abdul or super PACs going in for me. We have a problem with campaign finance reform in this country,” Stevens said.

Fighting for Michigan has spent more than $2.3 million supporting El-Sayed. AIPAC’s super PAC, United Democracy Project, spent more than $19.9 million supporting Stevens through July 20, according to campaign finance records cited by CBS News. Another group, A Stronger Michigan, has spent $16.8 million supporting Stevens but has not disclosed its donors. Stevens’ campaign and six supporting super PACs have spent more than $61 million on primary ads, according to AdImpact figures cited by CBS News, while El-Sayed’s campaign and outside groups have spent more than $15.3 million, according to FEC reports.

El-Sayed has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, a charge Israel denies. After the debate, he said: “My father-in-law does not want to send your tax dollars to the Israeli military to do genocide, I’ll tell you that much.”

The candidates also addressed leaked audio, published by Politico and cited by The Guardian and CBS News, in which El-Sayed said progressives could send a message if “you put one ogre on a pike.” Asked whether he regretted the comment, El-Sayed said he had been referring to Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, not Stevens.

“I was referring to a guy named John Fetterman, who’s a senator from Pennsylvania who has done terrible things, got elected on a set of values, and is now completely throwing those values in the mud,” El-Sayed said.

Stevens replied: “Thank you for clarifying that you didn’t call me an ogre.”

El-Sayed said he had urged supporters not to mock Stevens, including her accent. “I don’t know what else you would want from a candidate. I’ve literally said, ‘Do not make fun of her. It’s unkind,’” he told reporters after the debate.

Stevens and pro-Stevens groups have criticized El-Sayed over past remarks about Whitmer and former first lady Michelle Obama. El-Sayed rejected claims that he has disrespected women, saying, “My mother was the first tenured professor of engineering at her university. I was raised by strong women.” Stevens said those comments were “certainly on him to respond to.”

On ideology, El-Sayed said he is not a socialist. “I’m just a capitalist who understands how capitalism works,” he said. “The biggest threat to capitalism was never the idea of government regulation. It was always monopoly.”

Stevens argued that El-Sayed’s progressive allies are “missing” an understanding of Michigan. “We don’t need a celebrity candidate. We don’t need a celebrity senator,” she said. “We need somebody who is committed to six years of hard, unglamorous work.”

Rogers appeared with Trump earlier Monday in Milford and said voters should send Trump “some help.” He told CBS News he had no preference between the Democrats, saying, “They talk the same way, and they vote the same way.”