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El-Sayed
has
Double-Digit
Lead in
Michigan’s
Record-Breaking
Senate
Primary
Li Haung
-
National-Politics
Tell Us
USA News
Network
DETROIT
- Dr.
Abdul
El-Sayed,
a
41-year-old
epidemiologist
and
former
Detroit
health
director,
has
surged
to a
double-digit
lead in
Michigan’s
Democratic
U.S.
Senate
primary
just
days
before
Tuesday’s
August 4
vote,
setting
up what
party
insiders
describe
as a
defining
referendum
on the
future
of the
Democratic
Party.
El-Sayed,
the son
of
Egyptian
immigrants
and a
lifelong
Michigander,
is
running
on a
progressive
platform
centered
on
Medicare
for All,
removing
corporate
money
from
politics,
and
reorienting
U.S.
foreign
policy—particularly
by
withholding
military
aid to
Israel
over its
war in
Gaza,
which he
has
called a
genocide.
He has
framed
his
candidacy
as a
fight
against
billionaire
influence,
explicitly
naming
Elon
Musk and
Donald
Trump as
adversaries
in his
mission
to build
a
government
“that
works
for
you.” If
nominated
and
elected,
El-Sayed
would
become
the
first
Muslim
ever to
serve in
the U.S.
Senate.
The race
against
U.S.
Rep.
Haley
Stevens
has
become
the most
expensive
Democratic
Senate
primary
in
history,
with
outside
spending
exceeding
$60
million—about
half of
it from
the
pro-Israel
lobbying
group
AIPAC,
which
has made
defeating
El-Sayed
a top
priority.
Stevens,
a
four-term
congresswoman
from
suburban
Detroit,
has
leaned
on
endorsements
from
Gov.
Gretchen
Whitmer,
Senate
Minority
Leader
Chuck
Schumer,
and
other
party
stalwarts,
arguing
her
experience
and
moderate
record
make her
the
stronger
general-election
bet
against
Republican
Mike
Rogers.
El-Sayed,
meanwhile,
has
drawn
support
from
Sens.
Bernie
Sanders
and Rep.
Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez,
as well
as labor
groups
including
the
Association
of
Flight
Attendants
and
United
Association
Local
174.
Recent
polling
shows
him
leading
Stevens
by 15
points,
with an
Emerson
College
survey
this
week
placing
him at
57% when
including
leaned
undecided
voters.
The
campaign
has been
marked
by sharp
attacks
portraying
El-Sayed
as
disrespectful
to
women,
citing
past
critiques
of Gov.
Whitmer
and
Michelle
Obama’s
initiatives;
the ads
have
prompted
even his
8-year-old
daughter
to ask
why
people
say he’s
“mean to
women.”
El-Sayed
has
dismissed
the
framing,
saying
his
contempt
is
broadly
directed
and not
gender-specific.
A
victory
for
El-Sayed
in
Michigan—a
key
swing
state—would
embolden
the
party’s
left
flank
and
validate
establishment
fears
about
its
direction,
while a
Stevens
win
would
signal a
reaffirmation
of
centrist,
institution-backed
politics.
General-election
polls
currently
show
Stevens
running
roughly
even
with
Rogers,
while
El-Sayed
trails
by about
10
points,
according
to
recent
surveys.
The
winner
will
face
Rogers
in
November
to
succeed
retiring
Sen.
Gary
Peters.
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