Michigan’s Senate Democratic primary is latest test of the progressive movement’s power – WTOP News

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Michigan’s Senate Democratic primary is latest test of the progressive movement’s power – WTOP News

DETROIT (AP) — Michigan Democrats voted Tuesday in a closely watched Senate primary between moderate U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens and…

DETROIT (AP) — Michigan Democrats voted Tuesday in a closely watched Senate primary between moderate U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens and progressive favorite Abdul El-Sayed, with the winner heading to a November contest critical to the party’s hope of reclaiming the Senate majority.

Democrats endured a bitter and expensive campaign that became the latest proxy battle between the party’s establishment and progressive wings. Candidates from the left-flank — including democratic socialists — have found surprising success in the party’s U.S. House primaries, including in New York and Denver.

Those races, however, were in deep-blue cities. Michigan has a purple hue, and the Senate primary is the biggest test yet of the progressive movement’s growing political might.

Polls closed in the evening, and supporters gathered at the candidates’ watch parties.

Inside Detroit’s Majestic Theatre for El-Sayed’s event, vote counts flashed on a projector screen in front of a packed crowd riled up by speakers, including labor leaders. El-Sayed, a former Wayne County health director, campaigned on “Medicare for All,” campaign finance reform and ending military aid to Israel.

In the same city, the crowd grew at Stevens’ campaign bash, where the atmosphere early in the night was subdued but optimistic and folks mingled over charcuterie and drinks.

Stevens, a four-term congresswoman, focused on manufacturing and the economy. She had stressed her past victories in tough races, saying she is best positioned to beat the Republican candidate and calling her campaign a “love letter to Michigan.”

Stevens benefited from tens of millions of dollars in outside spending, including the largest investment in a race ever from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which supports pro-Israel candidates.

Voters were also choosing nominees in competitive House races and for governor. In the GOP gubernatorial primary, U.S. Rep. John James, who was backed by President Donald Trump, beat businessperson Perry Johnson. In the Democratic gubernatorial primary, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson defeated Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson.

Michigan is a must-win Senate race for Democrats

The race is crucial in which party controls the chamber in the last two years of President Donald Trump’s term. Those stakes have heated up the rivalry, with moderates arguing that El-Sayed would have a harder time than Stevens against a Republican in the general election.

Their heavy-hitting backers showed that divide: Sen. Bernie Sanders supported El-Sayed, while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer backed Stevens.

Stevens won election to Congress in 2018 after serving as chief of staff to President Barack Obama’s auto task force, which helped oversee the federal rescue of General Motors and Chrysler. Her campaign and allied groups have repeatedly highlighted that experience.

El-Sayed, who lost the 2018 gubernatorial primary to now-Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, cast himself as the anti-establishment candidate and argued that Democrats need to reject corporate influence and embrace a more progressive agenda.

While the candidate has said he is not a democratic socialist, he found support from some of the group’s members. That included Melat Kiros, who recently beat a longtime incumbent in a Democratic primary for a Denver-based House seat and was at El-Sayed’s watch party. Also there was Hasan Piker, a progressive and controversial influencer online.

The candidates’ differences were clear to some voters.

Kenneth Woodside, 87, of West Bloomfield, said he voted for El-Sayed over Stevens because “the nation is ready for someone who wants to take some more action rather than on the road we are now, which is on the road to an oligarchy and authoritarianism.”

Nessa Fuller, 51, of Birmingham, said she voted for Stevens because she will “fight to get the right things done, and she’ll work with other people, which is really important to me.”

Stevens targeted a big showing in Wayne County, the state’s largest and the home of Detroit, to hold off what El-Sayed’s campaign expected to be a wider base of support from across the state — including in many of the counties in southeastern Michigan surrounding Wayne.

Wayne County historically has released election results later than most of Michigan, which could result in El-Sayed taking an early lead before results from Detroit are added later in the night.

Outside influences spent millions on the Senate race

National groups poured unprecedented sums into the race, making it one of the country’s biggest tests of outside spending.

Groups backing Stevens spent more than $50 million, led by more than $30 million from AIPAC and its affiliates.

The spending thrust Israel policy into the center of the race even though the ads never mentioned it. While El-Sayed called for ending military aid to Israel, Stevens maintained strong support for the relationship.

Israel became a contentious issue within the Democratic Party amid a war in Gaza that killed more than 73,000 Palestinians in its retaliatory offensive after about 1,200 people were killed and 251 hostages were taken in attacks by the militant group Hamas.