Abdul el Sayed won the Democratic nomination for Michigan‘s open Senate seat on Tuesday, capping a stunning rise in one of the year’s most closely watched primaries and setting up a general election showdown with Republican Mike Rogers.
The Associated Press called the race for el Sayed at 9:54 a.m. Wednesday. With 99% of the expected vote counted, el Sayed led with 48.5% of the vote to Stevens’s 47.5%.
El Sayed’s victory marks one of the biggest triumphs for the Democratic Party’s progressive wing this year and delivers another setback to the party establishment after a string of left-wing primary victories across the country. His win also puts Michigan Democrats’ longtime electoral formula to the test after years of statewide success under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI), exposing deep divisions over ideology, Israel, and how the party should compete in battleground states after President Donald Trump’s 2024 victory.
The race evolved into a proxy battle over the Democratic Party’s future. El Sayed, the former Wayne County health director and 2018 gubernatorial candidate, was backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and a coalition of progressive groups that argued Democrats needed to embrace a more populist economic message.
Stevens, meanwhile, was supported by much of Michigan’s Democratic establishment, pro-Israel organizations, and outside groups that argued that her appeal to moderate and suburban voters made her the stronger general-election candidate.
Israel became one of the campaign’s defining issues, with Stevens describing herself as a “proud pro-Israel Democrat” while el Sayed accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Outside groups spent tens of millions of dollars on the race, making it one of the most expensive Senate primaries of the cycle.
WHAT’S AT STAKE IN THE MICHIGAN DEMOCRATIC SENATE PRIMARY
El Sayed now advances to face Rogers, who secured the Republican nomination earlier Tuesday after clearing the GOP primary field. Rogers is making his second straight run for the Senate after narrowly losing in 2024. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) defeated Rogers in that contest by roughly 19,000 votes, or about one-third of a percentage point, even as Trump carried Michigan at the top of the ticket. Republicans have argued that Rogers’s strong statewide performance and existing campaign infrastructure position him well to flip the open seat.
The race is expected to be one of the country’s premier Senate contests. Sen. Gary Peters’s (D-MI) retirement created one of Republicans’ top pickup opportunities, and the November election could help determine control of the Senate.