Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow endorsed Abdul el Sayed’s Senate bid on early Wednesday morning, before the final results of the tight race were revealed.
McMorrow herself was a candidate in the U.S. Senate race, battling for the Democratic Party’s primary nomination alongside el Sayed and Rep. Haley Stevens, before suspending her campaign last month. The winner faces former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), who is backed by President Donald Trump, in November.
After the primary was held on Tuesday, McMorrow said she backed el Sayed in the race, as the results continued to trickle in. She credited el Sayed with “winning” the primary. At the time of her remarks, the Associated Press had not yet called the race, with Steven trailing by around 14,000 votes.
“Congratulations to @AbdulElSayed on winning the Michigan Democratic primary to be our nominee for US Senate. Abdul has my full endorsement and support,” McMorrow said in a post on X. “This was a brutal primary (believe me, I know). And Trump and Mike Rogers are counting on us staying divided. Let’s prove them wrong by beating Mike Rogers and taking our country back.”
Around eight hours after her post, the Associated Press called the race for el Sayed. NBC had previously called the race for el Sayed.
AOC IGNITES SCHUMER PROXY FIGHT WITH MICHIGAN SENATE PRIMARY ENDORSEMENT
During her Senate campaign, McMorrow sought to position herself as ideologically between el Sayed, a staunch progressive backed by socialists, and Stevens, viewed as the centrist, establishment candidate in the race. After dropping out, McMorrow pledged to support whoever won the Democratic primary in the general election.
El Sayed’s victory means Democrats will now have a candidate to coalesce behind to face Rogers this fall. The Senate race has become one of the most closely watched in the country, as Republicans believe they have a chance of flipping the open seat red, expanding their majority in the upper chamber after longtime Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) said he would not seek reelection.