El-Sayed wins Michigan Senate primary as Trump-backed Republicans advance

Progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed narrowly won Michigan’s Senate primary Tuesday, delivering the left its biggest victory of the night in a swing-state race that could help decide control of Congress in November.

El-Sayed, a former public health official, defeated Rep. Haley Stevens, a more moderate candidate backed by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. The Associated Press reported that El-Sayed won 48.5% of the vote to Stevens’s 47.5%, a much closer result than polling had suggested. He will face former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, who was nominated by GOP voters after narrowly losing a race for Michigan’s other Senate seat two years ago.

The result highlighted both the strength and limits of the Democratic Party’s progressive wing in primaries across Michigan, Missouri, Virginia, Kansas and Washington. The races are tied to several House and Senate contests that could shape which party controls Congress after the midterm elections.

In Michigan, progressives scored additional wins. William Lawrence, co-founder of the climate activist group Sunrise Movement, won the Democratic nomination in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, a competitive seat where he is set to challenge first-term Republican Rep. Tom Barrett. In Detroit, Donavan McKinney unseated Rep. Shri Thanedar in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, The Guardian reported.

But progressive candidates did not win everywhere. In Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, Rep. Wesley Bell won a rematch against former Rep. Cori Bush, a progressive backed by Democratic socialists and high-profile figures including Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Bell had support from the national party and will face Republican Paul Berry in November, though the Cook Political Report rates the district as solidly Democratic.

The contests also underscored Democratic divisions over campaign spending and U.S. policy toward Israel. El-Sayed criticized the influence of AIPAC, the pro-Israel political group, during a Michigan Senate race that drew heavy outside spending. OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan group that tracks campaign money, said outside groups had spent $52 million in Michigan by mid-July, the most in any race except Texas’ Senate contest. AIPAC and aligned groups spent millions backing Stevens, according to NPR.

In Missouri, Bell’s support for humanitarian and military aid to Israel helped draw AIPAC backing in a safe Democratic seat. Bush, who has said Israel committed genocide in Gaza, tried to use opposition to Israel among primary voters against Bell, but The Guardian reported she received less than 40% of the vote.

Establishment-backed Democrats also prevailed in two Virginia House primaries, in the 1st and 2nd congressional districts, seats the party hopes to flip in November. In Washington, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, one of the few Democrats representing a district Trump won two years ago, won her primary against a crowded field that included a challenger to her left.

On the Republican side, candidates endorsed by President Donald Trump won key nominations in Washington, Kansas and Michigan. In Washington’s 4th Congressional District, Yakima County Commissioner Amanda McKinney beat 10 other candidates for the top spot in the race to replace outgoing Republican Rep. Dan Newhouse, one of the few House Republicans still in office who voted to impeach Trump in 2021. McKinney will face Democrat John Duresky in November.

Trump-backed candidates also won Republican nominations for governor in Michigan and Kansas. In Michigan, Rep. John James will face Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. In Kansas, state Sen. Ty Masterson will face Democratic state Sen. Cindy Holscher. Democrats currently hold both governorships, but the sitting governors are term-limited.

Voters also rejected Republican-backed ballot measures in two red states. Kansas voters turned down a proposal to elect state Supreme Court justices rather than have them appointed by the governor from nominees selected by a committee. The court has upheld abortion rights, among other rulings opposed by Republican leaders.

In Missouri, voters rejected a measure from the Republican-led legislature that would have made it harder to amend the state constitution by requiring approval in each of the state’s eight congressional districts, rather than a simple statewide majority. The Guardian reported the measure failed with about 80% voting against it, as did a separate proposal to phase out the state income tax.