DETROIT, MI – The high-stakes fight between the left-wing and the center-left establishment for the future of the Democratic Party is front-and-center on Tuesday in Michigan’s primary.
Boosted by a string of victories this spring in mostly blue congressional districts across the country, the Democrats’ ideological war moves to the Great Lakes battleground state, where progressive victories could reshape the party and endanger must-hold seats in the midterm elections.
Also at stake as Michigan joins Kansas, Missouri, Virginia and Washington State in holding mid-summer primaries is President Donald Trump’s immense clout over the GOP and the power of his endorsements in Republican nominating contests.
But taking top billing is Michigan’s divisive and expensive Democratic Senate primary, which is seen as the biggest stage to date in the fierce fight for the future of the Democratic Party.
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“This is ground zero in the battle for the future of the Democratic Party, pitting status quo corporate Democrats against shake up the system economic fighters, and we’ll see who wins,” Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), a leading group on the left, told Fox News Digital.
The primary face-off pits Abdul El-Sayed, a former Wayne County Health Department director, against Rep. Haley Stevens, a more moderate candidate backed by the establishment. The race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, who is backing Stevens, is a must-hold for the Democrats and one of roughly a dozen Senate races from coast to coast that will determine if Republicans hold onto their slim Senate majority.
Matt Bennett, one of the leaders at the Third Way, a leading center-left Democratic organization, told Fox News Digital the Michigan showdown is “the first time the left is competing for a swing seat” and warned, “the significance is it could really put this seat in jeopardy.”
El-Sayed, who, if elected, would make history as the nation’s first Muslim senator, is an epidemiologist who unsuccessfully ran for governor as an insurgent candidate in 2018. He has made support for “Medicare-for-all” a major component of his campaign.
The far-left candidate has also called for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and is a vocal critic of Israel amid its war with Hamas — even characterizing Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide” against Palestinians.
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And El-Sayed, who is backed by top far-left leaders and teamed with progressive champions Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York on the Michigan campaign trail two weeks ago, and who served as a top surrogate on Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, has vowed not to accept PAC donations.
Stevens, who flipped a GOP-held district in her 2018 election to Congress, is backed by top national and Michigan Democrats, including Peters, term-limited Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and longtime Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer.
Schumer and the party establishment view Stevens as more electable than El-Sayed, who has sparked controversy with his past comments.
“I am the best Democrat to go forward. I am the only person in this race who has won tough primaries multiple times. You know, running with the Michigan grit, resilience and determination,” Stevens told Fox News Digital on Sunday, as she teamed up with Peters on the campaign trail.
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Over $80 million has been spent on the primary showdown, making it the most expensive Democratic Senate nomination race in history. Much of the money has been shelled out by outside groups in support of Stevens and against El-Sayed. The biggest spending comes from United Democracy Project, a political action committee aligned with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
El-Sayed, who has repeatedly attacked Stevens over the massive infusion of AIPAC-linked money, told reporters on Sunday, “If you need $70 million to come in here and help get you elected, then the question has to be, are you actually electable on your own terms.”
The winner will face off in the midterms against former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, who is on a glidepath to win the GOP Senate nomination.
The Trump-backed Rogers, who lost the 2024 Senate election in Michigan by a razor-thin margin, said in a Fox News Digital interview that he doesn’t care whom he faces off with in November.
“It doesn’t matter to us. We’ve looked at both candidates. We feel confident we’re going to beat either one of those candidates that come out of that race,” Rogers highlighted.
And Rogers claimed, “They are very radical, and they are way too extreme for Michigan. I mean, Abdul, he has his own special sauce of crazy.”
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But Democrats are confident they can regroup after a combustible primary.
“Let’s make sure that anyone but Mike Rogers gets to the United States Senate,” Stevens told reporters on Sunday. “After the primary, you’re going to see a united Democratic Party. You are going to see us going full force, full fledged ahead.”
And El-Sayed told Fox News Digital, “I think we all understand the risk of Donald Trump. We all understand the risk of Mike Rogers.”
The left-wing versus establishment battle is also playing out in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, a key Republican-controlled swing seat race that’s among roughly two-dozen that will impact whether the GOP holds onto its fragile House majority.
William Lawrence, a co-founder of the Sunrise Movement, which advocates for political action to tackle climate change, is on the rise against two more moderate Democrats. Lawrence is backed by Sanders and El-Sayed, as well as some top progressive groups. The primary winner will face GOP Rep. Tom Barrett in the general election.
The party civil war is also on display in Michigan’s deep blue 13th Congressional District.
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Rep. Shri Thanedar, who is supported by top House Democratic leaders, is being challenged by state Rep. Donovan McKinney, who is backed by Sanders, El-Sayed, and “Squad” members Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and Summer Lee of Pennsylvania.
And the ideological warfare is also front-and-center in Missouri, in the state’s St. Louis-based and heavily Democratic 1st Congressional District.
Rep. Wesley Bell is facing off in a rematch against former Rep. Cori Bush, a Squad member who Bell ousted in the 2024 primary.
Trump’s endorsements are getting tested in two statewide showdowns on Tuesday, in Michigan and Kansas.
The president is backing Rep. John James in Michigan’s GOP gubernatorial primary. James, a West Point graduate and one-time Republican rising star, is facing off against multi-millionaire businessman Perry Johnson, a former gubernatorial and presidential candidate.
The winner will take on likely Democratic nominee and current Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, in the race to succeed Whitmer.
In Kansas, Trump is supporting state Senate President Ty Masterson in a crowded field of Republican gubernatorial contenders.
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is term-limited, which makes the race to succeed her a top flip opportunity for the GOP.
In Washington State, the marquee primary showdown is in the state’s 3rd Congressional District, where Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a former auto shop co-owner, is facing a crowded field of challengers from both parties.
Washington state has a top-two primary system in which all candidates, regardless of party, compete on the same ballot and the two highest vote-getters move on to the general election.
The race is another crucial House showdown that may decide the chamber’s majority.
In Virginia, voters head to the polls to cast ballots in Senate primaries and in a handful of House primaries in extremely competitive districts that may impact the balance of power on Capitol Hill.
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