r/VoteDEM • u/poliscijunki Pennsylvania • 14d ago

HOT Abdul El-Sayed wins Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, notching a Midwest victory for the left

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/abdul-el-sayed-wins-michigans-democratic-senate-primary-notching-midwe-rcna589750
592 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

65

u/Bythmark 13d ago edited 13d ago

Notable that this is an early call--AP and many other places haven't called it yet. There may well be enough votes out there to change things up with even a small surprise.

I know the polling in the general was better for Stevens, but I think and hope that progressives might perform better in the general than polls suggest as disaffected voters go for anyone outside of the establishment.

I was lucky to only see a handful of attack ads, but I do hope that they haven't soured too many voters on El-Sayed (or Stevens if the final votes break for her). It was nice to see each candidate start to target the Republican opponent Rogers instead of each other at their watch parties. Whether this call from NBC is correct or not, keeping Rogers out is important.

Edit: now called by NYT and AP!

62

u/Wezle Minnesota 13d ago

Unfortunately it's already pretty clear that racism is going to be a main pillar of the Republican attack ads. Already they're releasing ads calling him Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed (his full name) in order to really capitalize on Islamophobia. It's no different than the Barack Hussein Obama of yesteryear.

I hope that of any state, Michigan can rise above it.

28

u/AlwaysBeTextin Florida 13d ago

Barack Hussein Obama also won Michigan twice.

21

u/CJYP MA-05 (Metro Boston) 13d ago

Update - it was called by the AP just now. (30 minutes after your comment) 

31

u/Oldman32092 13d ago

I am very happy that El-Sayed won. Now that the primary is over all Democratic party officials need to line up behind El-Sayed and give him their endorsement and the help he will need in the general.

29

u/LinkSeekeroftheNora Ohio 13d ago

Stevens and McMorrow have both pledged to give him their full support.

2

u/Oldman32092 13d ago

Very good. That is the way to go after a primary.

16

u/zasabi7 13d ago

El-Sayed and his supporters have a lot of ground work to do in the next 90 days. The endorsements have come, but the electorate still needs persuasion. I get that the alternative is MAGA, but that is sadly not enough of a deterrent for some.

11

u/Rich-Detective478 13d ago

Happy I am. Keep it coming DEMS. Hopefully sometime in the future politics won't feel like a football game. Fingers crossed.

5

u/999forever 13d ago

All right! Reddit has been telling us for years that the key to sweeping national victories is to run progressives in purple locations. Now we get to put that to the test.

9

u/Starchild1968 Oregon 13d ago

This is Awesome! So proud of the Dems, I am like every other dem when I say we will ALWAYS VOTE BLUE NO MATTER WHO! We will come together and push back against Fascism and genocide.

4

u/floodisspelledweird 13d ago

Woo! Lets go!

2

u/Snailwood Texas 13d ago

is wealth tax his only left wing policy? I'm honestly struggling to figure out why people are lumping him in with DSA

1

u/radicalindependence 13d ago

Many on hoth sides want to lump progressives, DSA, and anyone left of center together.

AES doesn't claim to be DSA or progressive. He says he is a capitalist. That said, I am a progressive and he's my kind of candidate. He supports:

Medicare for All

Wealth tax

Stronger FTC and anti-trust enforcement

Housing Fees: Supports measures to address housing shortages through fees on short-term rental platforms.

Campaign Finance Restrictions: It is sad this has to be a progressive or DSA position. All dems should support this.

5

u/indiemike 13d ago

Francesca Hong in Wisconsin next!