Abdul El-Sayed was on track Wednesday to narrowly win the Democratic nomination for US Senate in Michigan, overcoming tens of millions of dollars in outside spending by AIPAC and other special interests that sought to smear the progressive epidemiologist and boost his opponent, US Rep. Haley Stevens.
NBC declared El-Sayed the winner, but The Associated Press said the race was too close to call with over 90% of ballots counted. As of early Wednesday morning, El-Sayed was leading Stevens by roughly 21,000 votes—or just over one percentage point.
In his election night speech, El-Sayed stopped short of declaring victory but celebrated the “movement that we were able to inspire.”
“Across that movement that we built, there was an inspiration in the idea that we could take our government back. Government of the people, by the people, and for the people instead of government of the corporations, by the special interests, and for the billionaires,” El-Sayed told supporters. “And because you had the audacity to believe in that, you know that the billionaires, the corporations, and the special interests, they weren’t going to give up lightly. We all knew they were going to spend their money. We didn’t know they were going to spend $70 million of their money. We didn’t know that they were going to outspend us $11 to $1. And yet we’re still standing.”
An El-Sayed victory would be a brutal defeat for AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobbying organization that shelled out over $30 million to defeat him. AIPAC cash accounted for nearly half of all the outside spending in the race, which was the most expensive Democratic primary in US history.
“AIPAC spent over $30 million to stop Dr. Abdul El-Sayed in this race, and that record-high sum wasn’t enough because Democratic voters have had it with the fringe and extremist view that our tax dollars should pay for Israel’s bombs, wars, and genocidal ambitions,” said Margaret DeReus, executive director of the IMEU Policy Project. “With Michigan now playing a decisive role in selecting the next Democratic president, potential 2028 contenders should take notes.”
The winner of the Senate contest will face Republican Mike Rogers in November.
Progressives also appeared poised to win other closely watched races in Michigan. The Associated Press projected that grassroots organizer and climate activist William Lawrence has won the Democratic primary in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, while progressive state Rep. Donavan McKinney led establishment-backed US Rep. Shri Thanedar—who received AIPAC support—in the 13th District, with more than 70% of the vote counted.
“AIPAC fell on its face in Michigan,” the progressive advocacy group RootsAction said in response to the primary results. “Voters showed that they want what progressives have been clamoring for, including Medicare for All, a stop to endless wars, and true economic security.”
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