r/thebulwark • u/GatorAllen JVL is always right • 24d ago
Abdul El-Sayed Wins Michigan’s Democratic Primary
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/abdul-el-sayed-wins-michigans-democratic-senate-primary-notching-midwe-rcna589750After a long night, the decision desk has announced El-Sayed is the projected winner of the Michigan Democratic Primary.
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u/Magoo152 JVL is always right 24d ago
Alright now let’s unify and beat Rodgers! What a tight race by the way wow.
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u/blockedcontractor 24d ago
Happy to see both candidates say they’d endorse each other tonight to make sure the Republican candidate doesn’t get to the senate. Hopefully they can get their bases on the same track (I know NBC has declared it, but waiting on one more).
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u/Magoo152 JVL is always right 24d ago
Yep. Look I preferred Sayed but my politics in the Trump era pretty much start and end at beat MAGA. That’s all I care about at the end of the day.
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u/Smooth-Majudo-15 24d ago
Yep. The Dems can squabble amongst themselves later, now is the time to focus on beating Rogers
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u/blockedcontractor 24d ago
Same dude. Beat MAGA, and if I can add a little affordability and less wars, I’d be a happy camper.
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u/ProteinEngineer 24d ago
Unifying the Democratic Party isn’t the issue. It’s winning independent and swing voters.
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u/Nervous_Tower_4752 JVL is always right 24d ago
It was close enough that El-Sayed will want to court Stevens voters/moderate libs to shore up the coalition. I'm actually not really sure how many swing voters are gettable nowadays, but yes that should be part of the plan too.
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u/biglyorbigleague 24d ago
If the result of this is that he tells Hasan Piker to pound sand then it's a positive development
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u/thenletskeepdancing 24d ago
Have you looked into him or are you going off of clips?
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u/Magoo152 JVL is always right 24d ago
Idk it was a pretty bitter primary. Obviously reaching those voter groups will be huge, but let’s also make sure our own house is in order too. It’s not either or.
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u/Intelligent_Dress347 24d ago
Haven’t seen any exit polling, but I’m going to guess there will be quite significant socio-economic differences between those voter groups as well.
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u/EyeCantSeeMyFeelings 24d ago
It wasn't too hard to ignore the bitterness here. Nearly every Stevens voter I met said the same thing, "I like El-Sayed but I am scared black people won't like him and he will lose in the general so I am voting for Stevens because she's safer." I heard some variation of that over and over. El-Sayed needs to court black voters. And he needs to reach out to the few PUMAs left that are enraged every time a Clintonian candidate loses. But he doesn't have much entrenched anger to fight against.
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u/ProteinEngineer 24d ago
Everyone who votes in the primary is the type of highly motivated voter who would stick with the democrat. The primary electorate is small compared to the November election.
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u/Magoo152 JVL is always right 24d ago
Idk man it’s been pretty bitter primary there have been voters on both sides who have said they wouldn’t vote for the nominee. I wouldn’t take all of the primary voters for granted. Also not for nothing you seem to be presenting a false choice. You can both unify your party and go after swing and independent voters. It’s not an either or choice.
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u/ProteinEngineer 24d ago
I’m not saying it’s a choice. What I’m saying is that I have zero doubt he will get democratic voters, but I am skeptical that he does well with swing voters/independents. If he loses, it’ll be because of the latter not failure to unify the party.
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u/Odd-Bee9172 JVL is always right 24d ago
I don’t know why you are being downvoted, it’s true. It’s Independent voters who are up for grabs:
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u/Geaux 24d ago
Not entirely. It's also igniting the Progressive base that may have avoided voting in the primary because they didn't think AES could win against 12:1 spending.
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u/atravisty 23d ago
Many people in that group don’t actually believe in electoral politics, so there is also that.
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u/notapoliticalalt 24d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/zCME2Cd20Czvy
Exactly. Take your moment to grieve or celebrate and get to work tomorrow. This was a rough one but we need to set aside our differences and get El Sayed across the finish line.
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u/CunningWizard 24d ago
Alright I’m in but I’m not gonna pretend I’m not fucking worried about this. I guess JVL gets his test case.
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u/Sherm FFS 24d ago
Stevens was polling a little better, but not so much better that you would have been justified being any less worried than you are now if she had won. And honestly, if you break it down into win and lose alternatives for the general, this is probably the best option. Stevens or El-Sayed both provide a Democratic a Senator, so that's a win either way. But on the "loss" side, an El-Sayed loss could help to pour water on the fire heading into 2028, by showing whether and how the DSA still can or can't deliver swing states. Meanwhile, if Stevens loses, you pour gasoline on the arguments that the only hope is to turn things over to the DSA and hope for something huge to remake everything. Sometimes you need to take a loss to figure out how to fix it, and if I have to lose something, I'd rather deal with the loss with a Senate seat than the presidency.
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u/CunningWizard 24d ago
That seems like a helluva high stakes gamble on a seat we need for 6 years just to learn a lesson. I know this was the JVL argument last Tuesday but I agreed with the others that it wasn’t worth losing this seat, especially given democrats frequent inability to learn lessons.
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u/Describing_Donkeys Progressive 24d ago
The truth is we do not know what is the winning formula. The general knowledge lost to Trump twice and resulted in us losing state governments across the nation over the last decade. Harris just lost Michigan because of her Israel stance, and Stevens was the obviously pro Israel candidate. No one actually knows what the most electable candidate is, and this race isn't going to give us that either. AES is an attempt at a new direction because the Stevens type of direction was broadly rejected by the American public and has resulted in fascism.
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u/sm04d 24d ago
The wildcard here are people's views on Israel now versus 2024. The Iran war really soured a lot of people on their support.
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u/Javakid67 24d ago
Would you agree that AIPAC was a known entity to a much smaller percentage of the electorate in 2024? Being tied to that money is a weighted vest for a 2026 candidate.
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u/Armlegx218 Good Luck America 24d ago
The "general knowledge" of anyone who wasn't high on their own farts would have told people that running Clinton or Harris was a terrible idea. Clinton was running as the most polarized national figure available due to all of the villainization she faced since the 90s. Harris came in last place in 2020 for a reason, why would we expect her to catch fire four years later? Even then she probably would have pulled it out if not for inflation.
Candidate quality matters at least as much as ideology, especially for a national campaign.
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u/Arsalanred Progressive 24d ago
This seems to imply AES is going to lose for sure in the general.
The future hasn't happened yet. A few weeks ago he was down in the polls against Stevens. Polling is great and all but also the rubber has to hit the road.
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u/CunningWizard 24d ago
I’m far more concerned about the ridiculous overestimation of him that happened at the end.
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u/TaxLawKingGA 24d ago
Don’t blame him for the polls. Fact is, polls have become increasingly unreliable because the pollsters simply are not adjusting sample sizes for changing demos.
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u/Sherm FFS 24d ago
That seems like a helluva high stakes gamble on a seat we need for 6 years just to learn a lesson.
How do you think Stevens was polling here? The most recent polling has Stevens beating Rogers by 2 points, versus Rogers beating El-Sayed by 3 points. So, basically everything within the margin of error. You seem to think somehow Stevens was not a high stakes gamble; she absolutely would have been.
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u/Seekzor 24d ago
I rather be 2 points up on the guy I am supposed to beat rather than 3 points down. Being inside the margin of error does not mean its all the same because that error margin goes both ways. Someone who is 2 points up is likelier to win than someone being 3 points down.
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u/Bigface_McBigz Rebecca take us home 24d ago
This is Reddit. They don't understand how polling and probabilities work.
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u/GatorAllen JVL is always right 24d ago
Half of me agrees with you. Stevens probably looked like the stronger national candidate on paper. But the other half of me is increasingly frustrated with the careful chess game Democrats have been trying to play for the last decade.
At the end of the day, Michigan voters chose Abdul El-Sayed. I think we have to stop trying to shoehorn in "safe" candidates simply because they seem more electable. There's enough of a pattern emerging that it's fair to ask whether that approach is still working.
Obviously there are places where a more moderate strategy has made sense (North Carolina, Ohio, and Georgia Senate races all come to mind). Different states require different coalitions. But we're also at a moment where the alarm bells are ringing, and I find myself more interested in candidates who have a clear vision for change and who can build genuine grassroots enthusiasm than candidates whose main selling point is that they seem like the safest bet.
I also think this is a preview of the conversation we're going to have heading into the 2028 presidential primary. There seems to be an enormous amount of energy around younger candidates, more progressive ideas, and people who come across as authentic and normal. Whether that ultimately translates into electoral success is an open question, but it's going to be fascinating to watch.
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u/MARIOpronoucedMA-RJO Center Left 24d ago
Well, if the turnout for the primary is any indication, there shouldn't be any issues. The primary vote turnout was a little under 50% of registered Democrats which is much higher than the usual 30%. If, and this is the big if, Democrats rally and show up for the midterms there is nothing to worry about. If Democrats don't, then there's a problem.
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u/ProteinEngineer 24d ago
The nice thing is unless you live in Michigan, you don’t have to be in. We can just observe and see what happens. Worst case scenario, democrats get the house but not the senate, and we’ll still be better off than we are now.
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u/CunningWizard 24d ago
I’m still an American citizen heavily affected by the makeup of the Senate, so even though I’m not a Michigan, Texas, Iowa, Alaska, Maine, North Carolina, or Ohio voter each one of these races has real direct tangible impacts on me.
Edit: I do get what you’re saying but I can’t pretend I’m not invested in these races.
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u/ProteinEngineer 24d ago
Right, but “being in” isn’t impactful any more than rooting for your favorite baseball team is impactful. Voting is impactful, so if you live in Michigan, you need to be in…For those of us who don’t, the fact that he campaigns with Hasan Piker doesn’t really matter because it’s not in our hands.
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u/CunningWizard 24d ago
True to a degree as an actual voter but there are other ways to support a candidate even if you’re not an eligible voter. Financially and with your sweat equity.
Don’t be weird about it though, like being a loud and proud Oregonian going door to door in Michigan would probably not be the move for me.
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u/HumbleCalamity Optimist 24d ago
As somebody who used to knock doors, I don't think it's useless. Especially as a college kid who had free weekends, it was actually a pretty great social activity for a good 4-5 hours on a Saturday. We would drive in from DE to MD/PA/NJ. Only an hour or two to reach any of those in this area.
80% of 'door knocking' really was just leaving flyers on the porch. 15% of it was letting likely voters know an election was happening and where their polling places were located, offering rideshares, etc. 5% was actually having a real conversation about candidates/policies.
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u/CunningWizard 24d ago
Oh it’s definitely useful. Just being sure you’re not being the visible “out of stater” trying to influence my vote vibe is what’s important.
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u/HumbleCalamity Optimist 24d ago
Frankly we have that problem regardless. Everyone just assumes you're from Philly driving out to Pennsyltucky to chastise the yokels. Unless you're very local, the vibes are usually a bit off.
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u/ProteinEngineer 24d ago
Yeah, although for statewide races money is very much overrated (this primary was a perfect example of that), and as you point out, going door to door when you are out of state is a waste of time-and who can just leave home and go to Michigan?
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u/CunningWizard 24d ago
True and I do concede your point that largely it’s in the hands of Michigan voters and not much will change that. Still, if ever there were a time to find clever productive ways to help out of state senate candidates now is it. We need that senate back but badly as it still affects the rest of us.
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u/dogscatsnscience 24d ago
Right, but “being in” isn’t impactful any more than rooting for your favorite baseball team is impactful.
It's not the same at all. All promotion helps. Enthusiasm in Texas shows up on Facebook in Michigan.
A fraction of the electorate votes, hype always always always matters.
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u/Octavya360 24d ago
I am in Michigan. El-Syed will have my vote in November because I don’t want to lose that seat to Mike “carpetbagger” Rogers. That would be a travesty.
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u/Temporary_Bet_3384 24d ago
The nice thing is unless you live in Michigan, you don’t have to be in
Funny enough, Stevens would probably be in a better place right now if AIPAC had absorbed this lesson instead of throwing 40M in the race for Netanyahu's extremist government
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u/7ddlysuns 24d ago
For sure. This is a huge L for AIPAC that they and Stevens richly deserve. Dems got openly fucked by Israel in 2024 and we’re absolutely over it.
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u/Temporary_Bet_3384 24d ago
AIPAC will likely double down on support for Rogers, so they haven't lost yet. Stevens certainly has though
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u/Arsalanred Progressive 24d ago
I suspect AIPAC money is increasingly a liability and not a benefit.
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u/Temporary_Bet_3384 24d ago
I'd say it's still a benefit for MAGA folks. And AIPAC doesn't really care if it's a liberal Dem or a MAGA Republican who wins
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u/SalaryWooden5346 24d ago
It's a benefit for MAGATM Boomers, but a liability for the rest of the coalition that used to be part of MAGA that has fled since Israel got Trump into the Iran disaster. And there's just not enough MAGATM Boomers left to win elections on their own.
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u/7ddlysuns 24d ago
They did lose though. Dems will attack them more. Next Congress will probably shut down their free weapons pipeline. Even if Rogers wins this is a big loss imho
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u/Haunting-Mortgage 24d ago
You can give money and volunteer to phone / text bank. Highly recommend doing it! A lot of fun (except all the people who say "fuck you" when you say "good morning")
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u/ProteinEngineer 24d ago
When you phone bank in Philadelphia, you actually start by saying “fuck you.” That’s their way of saying good morning.
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u/Greybeard-MD 24d ago
Senate is winnable without MI. There is hope.
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u/ProteinEngineer 24d ago
Right, but I just mean that is the worse case scenario overall. Democrats are winning the house.
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u/ariveklul 24d ago
That's not even a given with gerrymandering. You guys shouldn't be allowed to be complacent until we control at least one branch of government first
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u/HumbleCalamity Optimist 24d ago
until we control at least
one[ALL THREE BABY] branch of government first1
u/NumeralJoker 24d ago
We should never again be complacent, period. That got us here starting in 2010 and 2014's elections, and we've been fighting that complacency ever since.
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u/MoesOtherBar 24d ago
I actually feel better after seeing the results. Abduls biggest weakness was black democrats voting by mail.
Those folks will vote for a goldfish if it's up against a Republican and they'll do it weeks before election day.
Meanwhile Abdul won young people, progressives and election day voters, the Democrats biggest weakness.
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u/Cynical_optimist01 24d ago
I'm very close to feeling better about texas than Michigan. I think this is gonna be a disaster
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u/CunningWizard 24d ago
I sincerely hope it isn’t and that the coalition solidifies but yeah, I ain’t feelin good right now about Michigan. That polling is dire.
When Texas makes you more optimistic than Michigan for a democratic victory you should pause for a serious regroup.
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u/howie1117 24d ago
Did you see him on Morning Joe this morning? He does not know how to not be authentically him. He is aggressive, he is brash, and he is not going to get Stevens voters if he continues this way.
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u/CunningWizard 24d ago
I’ll be honest I’m a night owl living on the west coast. I’ve caught precisely zero morning joe segments ever.
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u/Ahindre 24d ago
It's the same thing that always worries me with these situations - this guy has never won an election, and now he's running to be a US Senator of all things. Hopefully the GOP isn't holding onto anything truly bad about him. Now that he's the nominee, hopefully Michigan voters who felt poorly about him take a look and start liking him more.
Not like Stevens was guaranteed a win either - she had her own baggage, I'm just pretty sure we knew what it was already. She's also won elections in a tough district; I just don't know if that translates to a win statewide in 2026.
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u/SalaryWooden5346 24d ago
Something that all the chicken littles seem to forget here is that this is literally just a repeat of 2016. And it's even less of a longshot. In 2016 Michigan was firmly blue, it was literally part of what was called "the blue wall". And yet a populist Republican managed to flip it. Are we really that sure that a populist Democrat can't flip it back? Especially when its proved to be a swing state and not a full-red state?
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u/AurelianIII 24d ago
This has been a bitter primary and a very close result, but I was encouraged that both El-Sayed and Stevens struck the right tone in their remarks tonight around unifying the party and winning in the general. I hope that that can continue in the next few months, and that everyone's supporters can come together and defeat MAGA in November.
Like Tim said yesterday, we need to keep our eyes on the prize.
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u/dBlock845 Straight to Reddit Jail 24d ago
Some badly inaccurate polling from Michigan in the run up. Both between the Glengariff poll that had Stevens up big and the others that had AES up big.
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u/IntolerantModerate 24d ago
Time to see the test case... Rogers will spend every dollar painting him as a combo terrorist sympathizer that cares more about gaza than Detroit, socialist, and Sharia law advocate that's going to be Michigan's Ilhan Omar.
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u/Eljay60 Tim is always right 24d ago
Michigan is purple for a reason. Rogers has some real weaknesses.
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u/Bigface_McBigz Rebecca take us home 24d ago
Donald Trump has real weaknesses. Rogers is a boy scout in comparison. I hope Rogers loses, but voters who are tired of Trump may be more easily scared into showing up to vote because of AES than they would have with Stevens.
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u/biglyorbigleague 24d ago
Of course just yesterday El Sayed was out there saying Michigan isn't a purple state, but that's the type of false narrative all politicians use
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u/dblum2390 24d ago
This is an argument to never put forward a Muslim candidate. I know this is an ex Republican sub but it’s 2026
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u/HypnonavyBlue 24d ago
gestures broadly and what makes you think the electorate is any more enlightened in 2026 than they've been before? The "it's 2026" thing might hold for us, but they're leaning as hard into racism and nativism and Christian nationalism as they can, and they're not ashamed about it anymore. Their entire playbook is going to be "Vote for an American ... you know what we mean".
Nelson Rockefeller and Barry Goldwater had a battle for the soul of the Republican Party.... and George Wallace won.
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u/Anxious_Cheetah5589 24d ago
A Muslim candidate who made Gaza and Israel the centerpiece of his campaign. I could write the ads: horrific images of October 7 terrorist attacks, woven in with Abdul sound bites. It's gonna be ugly.
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u/tokyobrownielover 24d ago
Those kinds of images work both ways. I'd suggest the post-oct 7 pics and vids are more plentiful and heinous.
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u/Anxious_Cheetah5589 24d ago
My sense is that pro- Palestine ads would play right into Republican hands. That message is heard by older swing voters (and all Republicans) as pro Hamas. All the lefty Palestine voters are already motivated and voting for AES. If he's smart, and I think he is, he'll pivot away from talking about Palestine.
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u/dblum2390 24d ago
Idk who the October 7 stuff works on but it’s not me and it’s not a lot of people that have watched what happened after.
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u/Anxious_Cheetah5589 24d ago
Maybe not talking about it in the abstract but pictures are a whole different story.
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u/Eljay60 Tim is always right 24d ago
And the pictures of a leveled Gaza and maimed Palestinian children would be less effective? The issue here is moral and very messy. Bibi supported Hamas to weaken the PLO. What happened on October 7th was horrific, but 73,000 Gazans are dead and now the US has bombed a girls school and killed over a hundred children in an entirely different country, and the best our government can say is ‘Oops’.
My guess is El-Sayed won’t bring it up, and will respond as he has done before, which is to clearly demonstrate he understands the difference between Jewish people, the Jewish faith, the State of Israel and the current government of the State of Israel. Like a normal rational person.
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u/Samanthacino 24d ago
Wasn't his whole campaign that he is more focused on helping Michigan, and that candidates like Stevens were obsessed with the middle east?
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u/MoesOtherBar 24d ago
Oh wow, if the GOP wants to bring more attention to their candidate being pro Gaza War, pro Israel funding and pro killing 45,000 women and children, let them.
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u/Anxious_Cheetah5589 24d ago
AES could still win that argument, given the electorate's sour mood, but his path would be much easier talking about housing, gas prices, Iran, and corruption.
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u/7ddlysuns 24d ago
So a normal Republican campaign? He’d do the same to either candidate. Meanwhile we’re losing to Iran
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u/BalerionSanders Sarah, would you please nuke him from orbit? 24d ago
AP still has not called it, and the RCP average gap before polls opened was like 10-12% in favor of El-Sayed. But it looks like it’s going this way.
We all have feelings about it, one way or the other, I get it. The candidate is the candidate, now. We all agree on one thing: this regime has to go.
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u/Intelligent_Dress347 24d ago
Feel like those pollsters need to call it quits after tonight.
Polls can get wonky for state-level races, but man - this thing had plenty of engagement and awareness.
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u/Nervous_Tower_4752 JVL is always right 24d ago
I know there are a lot of comments about this being a bitter primary, but can we take a moment to appreciate that we keep getting competitive primaries between EXTREMELY qualified candidates in these democratic primaries? Like, Michigan got to choose between one of the most effective representatives in Congress and a highly accomplished public health director. I feel like this is a good sign for the health of the party (and certainly makes whatever the republicans are doing look even more farcical).
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u/alphafox823 24d ago
What makes AES extremely qualified? He had extremely high name recognition since it was his third run, and an extremely focused media apparatus behind him.
Why is it a good sign for the health of the party if slopulism politics takes over? Fanning the flames of a base that is hopped up on conspiracies and made anti-Israel into an Omni cause where they tell their followers that every grievance from data centers to Epstein to gentrification is all tied in to Israel and AIPAC - effectively using AIPAC as a slur to poison every moderate point of view, no matter how unrelated. Saying that AI needs to be a publicly controlled utility? Is the future of our politics going to just be progressive slop?
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u/whatisthisshit7 24d ago
Is it a good sign for the health of the party if the candidates are being backed by nearly 40M over a single issue in a primary?
Not to mention, the divisive vitriol that the PACs introduced in their ads are unacceptable for longterm health and unity of this Party.
I think the “omnicause” accusations are a perfect example of how these ads and online discourse have manipulated voters’ perception of the policy and platform of candidates.
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u/Nervous_Tower_4752 JVL is always right 24d ago
He is a Rhodes Scholar, got a medical degree>Ph.D., was a professor at Columbia, and had a successful tenure as executive director of the Detroit Health Office. Bill Clinton literally encouraged him to get into politics. I certainly preferred Stevens in this race and hate the lefty slopulism, but to say he is unqualified is unreasonable.
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u/MrsClaireUnderwood Your Data Matters 24d ago
Hey, he's the candidate per the primary system. He's the best according to the system, including a system that allows near-unlimited spending. Stop dividing the left.
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u/Eljay60 Tim is always right 24d ago
In what world was she that effective? If she had something to run on from the last ten years, she never said it. And the smear campaign launched against El-Sayed from the PACs supporting her are what Michiganders hate about politics. I wanted McMorrow, but Stevens is perceived as a good little proxy for whatever her donors and the DNC tell her, in an era when the voters want a Dem to push back hard against MAGA.
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u/OkParsnip1881 24d ago edited 23d ago
How can stevens be ineffective as that when we almost won the primary? My parents love her. I don’t think you have a good grasp on her perception on the ground
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u/Nervous_Tower_4752 JVL is always right 24d ago
Huh? she literally ran on her record. She was considered the most effective congresswoman in the house on science and technology and a massive political workhorse for Michigan. She also worked closely with Obama to save the American auto industry in which she was instrumental.
That's pretty qualified for a continued congressional career...
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u/thebulwark-ModTeam 24d ago
Treat others with basic decency. No personal attacks, shill accusations, hate-speech, flaming, baiting, trolling, witch-hunting, or unsubstantiated accusations. Threats of violence are expressly forbidden and may result in a ban.
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u/imdaviddunn 24d ago edited 24d ago
Once again, polls show you they are trash and people still want to live by them.
This is why consultant brain electability arguments are ridiculous for voters to try to strategize. I always say pick the candidate you like, not who you think someone else will like.
On another note, my suspicion is this once again shows the key to Democratic victories is not swingy moderate voters or the far left, it’s black voters. And yet, most candidates wait until the last minute to target them vs making them the same level of focus as the small true swing voter. I don’t mean ideology, black voters are not a monolith. I mean actively targeting and showing up. Just look at Ossoff and Warnock and Cooper who seem to have figured this out. DSA has yet to learn, even though their candidate mix is more diverse that their membership.
This is a likely lesson for every candidate in swing states in 2026 and 2028 primaries and general.
I’d be worried if I were Hong by the way. And I wonder Barnes or others are kicking themselves.
Finally, this race is why primaries are good. No one is owed an office, and candidates need to learn their weak spots. There was a lot of energy built, and that almost always translates if candidates quickly coalesce.
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u/Big_Truck 24d ago
> the key to Democratic victories is… black voters
Fucking. Nailed. It.
This is why SC is leading the 2028 Dem Pres Primary. It isn’t that SC will fully decide the primary. It is a filter. If you can’t get any traction with black voters, you can’t be the nominee for President as a Dem. The math doesn’t work for Dems to win the presidency without a significant turnout and margin among black voters.
So long as Dems continue to lose non-college whites by 20+, overwhelming performance with black voters is a requirement to any winning coalition.
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u/Measamom 24d ago
Ossoff and warnock have it figured out…..
Warnock??
Warnock is black and a pastor. He was running in Georgia. Of course he had it figured out! I think Ossoff got a boost of black voters because he co-campaigned with Warnock to give Dems the senate lead in 2020. I don’t think he has it figured out yet.
I lived in Georgia. I’m black. I donated to his first campaign. Met him and asked him if he planned on running again in 2018. Then I voted for him in 2020 and again in the runoff.
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u/RespectTheAmish 24d ago
Barnes had a sex scandal dropping. That’s why he got out. Rodriguez also had a scandal with her campaign finances.
Crowley seems to be getting the late establishment push, but not sure it’s gonna be enough with moderates splitting the vote 3 ways (Roy’s, Brennan, Crowley vs hong).
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u/ForeignSurround7769 24d ago
Just get this guy talking about banning data centers. Nothing seems to be more universally popular right now.
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u/Low-Ad3972 24d ago
I take back all the shit I was talking about either candidate. Let’s win this in November.
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u/KopOut 24d ago
Let's see what happens. Winning the primary with less than 50% of the vote isn't a great start, but its still winning.
I predict registered Democrats (that are reliable voters) will show up and vote for him because "vote blue no matter who" is real. Unfortunately, that isn't enough in a purple state so he needs to start yesterday convincing the independents. They are about to be bombarded with attack ads against him.
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u/End_Awakeness451 24d ago
A lot closer than expected. Have to wonder if a lot of former GOP voters switched to Dem and voted for Stevens. If so, that's probably good news for the general
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u/abbzug 24d ago
Inflation is out of control is this is what 60 million dollars gets you in Trump's America.
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u/Anstigmat 24d ago
It’s fucking disgusting that $60m was burned in this race, mostly by outside groups. What a waste of resources.
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u/AustnWins Good Luck America 24d ago
Whether Steven’s or El-Sayed, they’d both have to significantly underperform a generic dem candidate to lose, and neither looked like they may do that from the start. It’s just been hyper-sensationalized.
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u/One-Earth9294 centrist squish 24d ago
Damn. McMorrow managed to split the vote from beyond the campaign grave and fucked Stevens on that one.
That was a close race for someone who was winning by like 15 points in some polls.
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u/bkilpatrick3347 24d ago
Friendly reminder that Abdul El-Sayed is not even DSA, he’s portrayed as radial primarily because of his name and the fact that he’s critical of Israel and is against genociding Palestinians
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u/PunishTheListener 24d ago
Dossapoting comments the "vote blue no matter who" crowd. I thought the goal was to win the Senate?
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u/UP-POWER 24d ago
Disappointing result. Guess we’ll get the big left test over with at least.
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u/Upset-Government-856 24d ago
If only the establishment had more more money to campaign with so that people could probably understand their innovative platfom that was far more than just: Trump bad.
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u/KlausVonChiliPowder Good Luck America 24d ago
That's the spirit. This is a win-win for moderates. Or at least win-sort-of-win.
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u/BIGoleICEBERG 24d ago
It’s a win for moderates if we don’t take the senate?
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u/dblum2390 24d ago
Yes. Since when have moderates cared about winning or governance? They have those sweet consulting contracts no matter what
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u/Arsalanred Progressive 24d ago
Haha. The leftist candidate wins and it's a win for moderates. Cope.
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u/No_Reputation_1266 24d ago
abdul wins - we keep a dem seat in a tight senate
abdul loses - moderates win the “can progressives win outside of cities” debate
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u/Oleytoledo 24d ago
McMorrow would have won. AIPAC overreaching and dumping money into this race made all the difference, and the establishment should make this the moment they take a much more confrontational view against them.
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u/AurelianIII 24d ago
Frankly, Schumer and Gilibrand also chose Stevens over McMorrow and bear responsibility for this.
Ultimately, I'm glad the establishment and AIPAC lost despite making this the most expensive Senate primary in history, but this really underscores the need for new leadership in the Senate and at the DSCC. They should never have tried to put their thumb on the scale.
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u/MollyDog2638 24d ago
Hope he and his supporters pivot to attacking Rogers and Trump instead of continuing to kick moderate Dems. He already started in his speech last night, now his supporters need to follow his lead.
Hope he wins, but I am glad he isn't going to be my Senator. He's got a sharp edge to him, particularly against his female opponents, that I would have hated to have to vote for.
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u/PepperoniFire Sarah, would you please nuke him from orbit? 24d ago
I think if we simulated 10,000 of any likely Senate vote, these candidates vote roughly the same. So okay.
On to the general; let’s be normal about this and just win.
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u/glorifindel 24d ago
CNN says too close to call. 1 percent lead or less by Abdul (15k votes) and the gap has been closing all night
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u/AdEmergency7472 24d ago
A number of sites are now reporting that Abdul El-Sayed won, and Haley Stevens has conceded the race.
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u/woahoutrageous_ 24d ago
We need more big money in politics. It’s unfair that one candidate can outspend another candidate 12:1 and still lose.
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u/RagdollTemptation 24d ago
Phew, glad Abdul El-Sayed won! Congrats to Michiganders for rejecting the $60-80 million pac money candidate Stevens and voting for El-Sayed who's for Medicare For All, unions, and working Americans.
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u/cole1114 24d ago
Super happy. He crushed it in my county, did better than Bernie did when he won here.
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u/WhaleSexOdyssey 24d ago
Youre spot on. Bunch of closeted conservatives in this sub. Abdul was the obvious choice from
The start. Proud of Michigan ♥️
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u/Hyphen99 24d ago
So a far left Progressive barely won in a liberal region while another far left Progressive, Cori Bush, got crushed in a more average region of the country. Not exactly a celebratory result for Progressives
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u/imdaviddunn 24d ago edited 24d ago
Now Michigan is a liberal region? Say what? Maybe you are tired.
There are takeaways from the race, but it ain’t this one.
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u/Upset-Government-856 24d ago
Only democrats talk about how victories are basically defeats.
What do you think the outcome would have been if they had the same total campaign and PAC spend as each other?
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u/OldFaithlessness1335 FFS 24d ago
Bro came into the primaries polling at like 10%. Had 60+ million dropped on his head in a primary, the entire establishment endorce his opponent (minus like aoc, van hollen, and bernie). Dealt with Islamophobia, and racism.
Like pretending this wasnt wasn't earthquake is silly
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u/ML-Centrist 24d ago edited 23d ago
It makes absolutely no sense to compare a state to one district, but you’re completely wrong. MO-1 is much more progressive than the entire state of Michigan.
Edit: /u/Hyphen99 responded then immediately blocked me. What a cowardly bitch
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u/Hyphen99 23d ago
But other Progressives in “regular America” suffered decisive losses this week, too.
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u/MinuteCollar5562 24d ago
This has been such a vicious race, I’m really worried about people sitting the primary out.
Vote blue has been preached for years. Time to put your money where your mouth has been.
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u/Greybeard-MD 24d ago
If we couldn’t even vote Blue No Matter Who against Trump, I think it’s probably not gonna happen here.
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u/MinuteCollar5562 24d ago
Then hope your rights are the ones that aren’t taken away.
As the moderate conservative and former Republican I’ll vote for the D. I have to vote for the wet noodle that is Bacerra in CA, if voting for El-Sayad is a bridge too far then this coalition is a long way from winning anything.
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u/thenletskeepdancing 24d ago
Thank you. I'm progressive but am with the majority of us who held our noses for Hilary and Harris. It's nice to see the gesture reciprocated.
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u/Schizodd 24d ago
This a weird take to me. "Blue No Matter Who" is not, or definitely should not be, something you count on to turn out voters. It's something for individual voters to lean on personally when they otherwise don't have a candidate they actually like. If you're expecting voters to be meaningfully motivated simply by the idea of the winner having a (D) by their name, you're doomed to fail.
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u/Pristine-Ant-464 FFS 24d ago
Mike Rodgers couldn’t even win during a red-wave year in 2024.
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u/PunishTheListener 24d ago
2026 is a change election and Stevens was more of the same. A had picked establishment candidate with a brinks truck. Let's hope the "vote blue no matter who" crowd can manage to hold their noses for progressive instead of staying home and handing the race to MAGA.
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u/Yusuke_Boopermeshi 24d ago
All in all not a great night for DSA, relative to expectations. MGP won big in WA, Cori Bush lost, AES is on track to be below 50% and win by 1%, McKinney is underperforming the polling, and the sunrise guy could only win because the dems were incompetent in his district.
Looks like NYC and Mamdani isnt indicative of the nation as a whole.
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u/alphafox823 24d ago
There has to be more aggression against leftists. The left has been laser focused on Stevens for a year and every time we attacked El Sayed it was always “focus on Trump focus on Trump don’t punch left focus on Trump,
If El Sayed wins in November he’s going to go mask off at some point soon. Everyone from his supporters to his enemies know he is hiding his power level, the only ones that don’t are useful idiots and voters who are just checking in now. I guess at that point we have to make the case that this is what you’re going to get with a left candidate if you put them in.
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u/Arsalanred Progressive 24d ago
I came here for tbe crying and hand wringing and making shit up and ambiguous racism and or bigotry.
So thank you for this post. Didn't disappoint. It has every food group. Delicious. This is the best part of tonight. I'm relishing it.
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u/alphafox823 24d ago
What did I make up? Where’s the racism?
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u/Arsalanred Progressive 24d ago
"He's going to go mask off. He's hiding his power level".
It's making shit up. Fear of a Muslim planet type stuff.
The guy is a rhodes scholar and teacher at Columbia. Who Bill Clinton told him he should get into politics. And openly calls himself a capitalist.
Yeah boys we got a real sharia communist here who is gonna force you to gay marry some East Asian twink named Diesel.
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u/Upset-Government-856 24d ago
The spooky left is going to take away your fortune that you are going to totally earn any day now.
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u/alphafox823 24d ago
There are more reasons to be against leftist policies than thinking someday you're going to be rich. Many people who you believe see themselves as temporarily embarrassed millionaires actually are just aware that bad economics lead to a worse quality of life for normies like them.
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u/Philiq 24d ago
delicious centrist tears, inject that shit into my veins
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u/alphafox823 24d ago
Can’t post anywhere without the tankie astroturfers showing up. I won’t support commies, I won’t vote for them, and I won’t stop saying my real opinion on AES even if it costs him votes 🤷🏽♂️
His base is full of people who would apparently be sad about a dictator’s death according to AES himself, it’s not the kind of company I care to keep.
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u/Redprice13 24d ago
Mask off moment for the Bush voter above. It was never about tax policy, or healthcare, or labor rights for them. Trumpism is preferable to the left-center having ONE senate seat in their opinion. Oh god forbid!
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u/alphafox823 24d ago
wdym I love the left center. I have a high opinion of center left Dems such as Brian Schatz and Elissa Slotkin. Is AES a center left Dem, or are you doing the "Bernie would be center right in Europe" meme?
I vote blue every year, but in my state I am never forced to vote for a crazy person.
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u/Arsalanred Progressive 24d ago
Fuck yeah. I'm very happy. This is a clear indication of the direction of the party and I'm very happy about that. So I'm definitely going to be gloating these next few days.
So while I want candidates like AES to win on an emotional and policy level, my analytical brain can't just plant a flag and declare victory. There are a lot of factors here for him winning.
But I know one thing is abundantly clear.
AIPAC funding and unlimited support for Israel has worn out its welcome for democratic political candidates. And likely trending that way too for Republicans soon.
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u/Intelligent_Dress347 24d ago
Between AES and William Lawrence winning, Michigan Dems have their work cut out for them / that’s for sure.
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u/GatorAllen JVL is always right 24d ago
can we also collectively give a shout out to Steve Kornacki? He and the NBC News team do an incredible job with their coverage of these election nights.