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Sunday, May 10, 2026
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Michigan Democrats Looked at Their Electability Problem and Said 'Hold My Kombucha'

Abdul El-Sayed squeaked out Michigan's Democratic Senate primary on Tuesday by 1 point over Rep. Haley Stevens, despite Stevens outspending him nine-to-one on advertising and pulling a last-minute endorsement from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. He won after nearly $65 million in outside money was dumped into the race against him.

He won anyway. And Republicans should send him a thank-you card.

El-Sayed — a former public health official who ran for governor in 2018 and lost to Whitmer in the primary — is the candidate endorsed by every member of the Squad: Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley, Summer Lee, Delia Ramirez, and Greg Casar. Bernie Sanders backed him. The Democratic Socialists of America descended on the state, shifting organizers, volunteers, and resources into Michigan after racking up wins in deep-blue House districts in New York and Colorado. The Washington Free Beacon reported that El-Sayed attended and spoke at six DSA events between 2017 and 2020, including headlining a 2019 fundraiser.

Now he insists he's not one of them. "I'm not technically or practically DSA," he told the Wall Street Journal in July. He also claimed he was "simply not a socialist" when pressed on his associations with Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez.

A man who headlined DSA fundraisers, got endorsed by every Squad member, attracted DSA ground troops to his campaign, and ran on Medicare for All wants you to know he is definitely not a socialist. The rebranding effort is going about as well as New Coke.

The numbers underneath the primary result tell a story El-Sayed would rather not hear. Stevens, supposedly "down 14 and doomed" in pre-election polls, clawed within striking distance by dominating areas El-Sayed will desperately need in November. Macomb County precincts swung 60 points toward Stevens. She won Oakland County — her home turf — 51 to 46 percent. Rural voters, who make up about 19 percent of Michigan's population, comprised roughly 40 percent of increased voter turnout in 2024. Those voters are not lining up for the Squad-endorsed candidate who accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.

El-Sayed now faces former Republican Congressman Mike Rogers, who won his primary without opposition and carries a Trump endorsement. Current polling averages have Rogers at 46.7 percent to El-Sayed's 42.3 — a 4.4-point gap before the general election campaign has even started.

The AIPAC-affiliated spending alone tells you how the establishment read this race. Over $30 million poured in to back Stevens and stop El-Sayed. Sen. Chuck Schumer and Sen. Gary Peters endorsed Stevens. Whitmer endorsed Stevens late last month in what Townhall described as "a last-ditch effort." The entire Democratic establishment rallied behind the electable moderate.

The base picked the DSA guy.

El-Sayed, for his part, sounds confident. He called Rogers "a generationally bad candidate" and described his own potential victory as putting "an ogre on a pike" for 2028.

But confidence and a 4.4-point polling deficit don't usually shake hands. Republicans hold 53 Senate seats. Michigan is one of the most competitive races in the country, with control of the chamber potentially at stake. And Democrats just nominated the candidate whose entire endorsement list reads like a DSA membership roll — in a state where rural turnout surged and suburban moderates already showed they preferred a more moderate candidate.

The Squad gets their candidate. But if history is any indication, he will not win in November. DSA candidates hsitorically perform terribly against Republican candidates. They only win in ultra-progressive cities like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

When the moderate loses the primary by less than two points but the socialist wins the nomination, that's not a mandate. That's a margin of error with a megaphone.

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