El-Sayed seeks unity after bruising Michigan primary win

Abdul El-Sayed’s 14,898-vote win over Rep. Haley Stevens left Michigan Democrats with a nominee and a coalition problem. With more than 95% of votes counted, El-Sayed had 740,943 votes, or 48.48%, to Stevens’ 726,045, or 47.51%, and the narrow margin underscored how little room he has for error before he faces Republican Mike Rogers in November.

The primary turned into a bitter, expensive fight that split the party between El-Sayed’s progressive wing and Stevens’ centrist supporters. El-Sayed won despite an advertising disadvantage. Outside groups backing Stevens neared $60 million in spending, and AIPAC spent nearly $30 million in the race. El-Sayed, a former public health official and epidemiologist, built his pitch around Medicare for All and opposition to corporate money in politics, a message that energized the left but also sharpened concerns among suburban moderates who had gravitated to Stevens.

El-Sayed leaned on labor symbolism during the campaign, appearing with members of the UAW and National Nurses United at a “Michigan is Not For Sale” event. He will need to turn his anti-corporate politics into a broader argument about wages, health care costs and competence if he wants to win over Democrats who preferred Stevens’ steadier, more centrist profile.

Vice President Kamala D. Harris, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren endorsed El-Sayed, while Gov. Gretchen Whitmer backed Stevens during the primary before later supporting El-Sayed after his victory. On the Republican side, Rogers ran unopposed for his party’s nomination and Donald Trump endorsed him.

A Data for Progress memo dated July 10 found El-Sayed ahead of Rogers 47% to 46% in a general-election test, while Stevens trailed Rogers 45% to 46% in the same survey fielded June 15-22. An April 28 Detroit News poll had Stevens and El-Sayed essentially tied, with 36% of voters undecided. After the primary, El-Sayed downplayed “intra-family squabbles” and Stevens said she would be part of stopping “MAGA and Trump.”