Abdul El-Sayed edges Haley Stevens in Michigan Senate primary upset

Abdul El-Sayed, a former public health official who ran on a strongly progressive platform, has narrowly defeated Representative Haley Stevens in Michigan’s Democratic primary for the US Senate. The result sets up a November contest with Republican Mike Rogers, a former congressman, in a race that could help decide control of the Senate.

The primary was one of the closest in recent Michigan history and highlighted a wider debate inside the Democratic Party over its direction. El-Sayed’s immediate task is to unite the party after a bitter contest, even as progressives see his win as a major test of whether their politics can succeed in a key battleground state.

El-Sayed did not declare victory when he left the stage at his election night event on Tuesday, and the race was not called until early Wednesday after nearly all ballots across the state had been counted. When The Associated Press declared him the winner, he was ahead of Stevens by 14,893 votes, or just under 1 percentage point, out of more than 15 lakh ballots counted, the highest total in recent state history.

Senator Bernie Sanders, an early supporter of El-Sayed and a leading progressive voice, said on Wednesday: “Abdul’s victory was, in my opinion, the most extraordinary victory that I can think of in modern American politics.”

El-Sayed, 41, has never held elected office. He entered the race seven years after losing Michigan’s Democratic primary for governor by more than 20 percentage points. This time, he overcame more than USD 60 million in outside spending and a rival backed by some of Michigan’s top Democrats, including outgoing Senator Gary Peters and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.

“In the words of Muhammad Ali, we shook up the world,” El-Sayed said early Wednesday while speaking near The Spirit of Detroit, a well-known bronze statue in downtown Detroit.

On Wednesday, El-Sayed was joined by state Senator Mallory McMorrow, a former rival in the primary, and Curtis Hertel, chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, in an early show of unity. El-Sayed’s path to victory marked a sharp turnaround from 2018, when he lost the governor’s primary to Gretchen Whitmer and then stepped back from electoral politics. During that period, he launched a podcast, wrote a book and built an audience on YouTube and television while waiting for another opening.

That opening came when Peters unexpectedly announced that he would not seek re-election, creating an open Senate seat in one of the country’s most competitive states. El-Sayed launched his campaign in April 2025 with a team of four. Recalling the early days, he said: “Back in April, I remember talking to a room of five people. It was an opportunity for us to share an honest conversation about pain and about purpose. And I have been able to have 500 more of those discussions over the past 15 months.”

El-Sayed said he visited 110 cities and held more than 500 events. His campaign said its volunteer network grew to 12,000 people. Julie Brink, a 29-year-old volunteer from the Detroit area, said the campaign still felt like an “underdog” when she joined in February, but from there it was “gaining momentum really consistently”. She added: “It was a lot of little things along the way. The field narrowed and Abdul had consistent showing in debates and public appearances where he just cuts through the bullshit all the time.”

The campaign also leaned heavily on a broad media strategy, seeking attention through traditional outlets, podcasts and online platforms. Some appearances, including several interviews with controversial streamer Hasan Piker, triggered backlash. A key moment came on July 5, when McMorrow dropped out, leaving a two-person race between El-Sayed and Stevens. Soon afterwards, speaking to volunteers knocking on doors in a Grand Rapids park, El-Sayed said: “We have a chance of winning this election.” He added: “More importantly, we have a chance at winning our politics. What we are doing is building a movement of the many against the money.”

In the closing days of the race, El-Sayed pushed that strategy further. He marched through downtown Detroit with social media influencers and later attended a private pool party with content creators, including Piker. On Election Day, he gave three interviews to content creators at Detroit’s Eastern Market before speaking to traditional news organisations, including The Associated Press and MS NOW. Hours later, his campaign, which had once struggled to fill small rooms, packed Detroit’s Majestic Theatre for its election night event.

For progressives, the result was significant because it suggested their message could win beyond strongly Democratic cities and districts. Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, who campaigned with El-Sayed in the final days, said: “Abdul El-Sayed is now the tip of the spear for the theory that shake-up-the-system economic fighters can win in swing states.” He said the November race against Rogers was “put up or shut up time” for the movement.

El-Sayed campaigned on “Medicare for All”, ending military aid to Israel and campaign finance reform. He was backed by Sanders and US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who framed the contest as both a grassroots campaign and a fight against the establishment and big-money spending. Groups supporting Stevens spent more than USD 60 million, including over USD 30 million from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, and its affiliates. “We took on a machine,” El-Sayed said on Wednesday. Senator Chris Van Hollen, another progressive who endorsed him, said the result “should be a wake-up call to the Washington Democratic establishment”.

The bigger test now comes in November. El-Sayed has three months to show that the movement that carried him through the primary can also win a general election. Republicans have already moved to back Rogers aggressively. The Senate Republican campaign arm has reserved USD 45 million in Michigan advertising, a figure that could rise further. AIPAC, which spent heavily in the primary, also said on Wednesday that it would oppose El-Sayed and “his radical anti-Israel agenda” in November.

The narrow margin has also limited broader conclusions about what the primary says about the Democratic Party, since nearly half the voters backed Stevens. Throughout the campaign, Stevens argued that her more moderate approach and record of winning competitive races would have made her a stronger candidate against Rogers. El-Sayed said Stevens called him early on Wednesday to concede and described it as a “great conversation”. She also pledged her support. Michigan Democrats are expected to hold a unity breakfast on Thursday followed by a public rally on Friday.

Hertel said the ideological clash during the primary was not a problem in itself and that voters, not party leaders, should decide the party’s direction. “I do not think that having a robust discussion is a bad thing,” he said on Wednesday. “What I think is important is that we are united afterwards.” He added: “We will unite together, and we will win this race, because we have to.” In sum, El-Sayed’s narrow win has given progressives a high-profile breakthrough in Michigan, but the challenge of uniting Democrats and defeating Rogers in November now becomes the larger test.

With PTI Inputs

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