Detroit, Michigan – The sighs in the audience were audible as United States Congresswoman Haley Stevens closed in on Abdul El-Sayed’s lead, creating a tense atmosphere that lingered well into the night. El-Sayed, a public health advocate, took the stage after midnight as uncertainty had dampened the once-celebratory mood among his supporters. The race remained too close to call for hours, reflecting the intense polarization within the Democratic Party regarding foreign policy and the influence of special-interest money.
“I wish I could tell you that I was declaring victory right about now. It turns out it takes a long time to count some votes in Michigan. It’s a big state,” he told the crowd. The progressive candidate went on to remind the audience of the immense financial disparity he faced, noting that his campaign had been outspent by tens of millions of dollars by outside groups determined to see him lose.
“I want you to remind them that if we come through this, when we come through this, inshallah [God willing],” he said, “that we’ll have taken $70m on the chin and kept fighting back.” Stevens, a four-term congresswoman, continued to shrink El-Sayed’s lead as the votes came in, bringing the margin between them down to less than 1 percent. The final results arrived later on Wednesday morning, long after the sun had risen on a new day. El-Sayed had won by a razor-thin margin.
He had fended off not just Stevens but also the pro-Israel groups and Democratic power brokers in Michigan, including top officials from the party, like Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who had endorsed his opponent. The result appeared to stun the US political system, dealing yet another setback to the pro-Israel Democrats and sparking a response from President Donald Trump, who was quick to label El-Sayed as a “Communist loser who hates Jews and Israel”.
But the message from the vote results was clear: Campaign spending and big-name endorsements may no longer be enough to secure victory within the Democratic Party. El-Sayed’s supporters say the delayed celebrations and the smaller-than-expected margin of victory should not diminish the significance of his achievement. In a district north of Detroit, left-wing climate organiser William Lawrence also won a Democratic primary for Congress by 15 points, signaling a broader trend of grassroots success.
Democratic state legislator Alabas Farhat said El-Sayed’s victory sends a message that, if candidates run on an antiwar platform and are willing to take on special-interest groups like AIPAC, people will vote for them. “It’s not just the status quo any more and these establishment politicians who are used to coasting through these elections,” Farhat told Al Jazeera. “It’s now folks who want to come in and disrupt and deliver big, bold agendas and relief for the working families of Michigan and anywhere else.”
Stevens had overwhelming support from the Democratic Party establishment. She was backed by Whitmer, former Senator Debbie Stabenow, and a host of other party leaders who viewed her as the safer, more traditional choice for the Senate seat. Defeating Stevens allows El-Sayed to compete in November’s general elections against former Republican Congressman Mike Rogers, who is expected to mount a formidable challenge in a state that remains a critical battleground.
AIPAC has already indicated it will continue its spending in Michigan to beat El-Sayed in the general election. “Our members remain determined to ensure that voters reject Dr El-Sayed and his radical anti-Israel agenda in November,” the group said in a statement on Wednesday. The pro-Israel lobby group also downplayed El-Sayed’s victory, highlighting wins by other pro-Israel candidates, including in Missouri. “While disappointed that some of our AIPAC-backed candidates did not prevail, our community is proud to support pro-Israel Democrats and Republicans who stand for our values, and we are encouraged that voters in races across this primary season continue to broaden support for the US-Israel relationship.”
Progressive Senator Bernie Sanders called El-Sayed’s win the “most extraordinary victory” in modern US politics. “Have you ever heard of a candidate in a major race getting outspent nine to one, taking on the entire establishment and winning?” Sanders said on the Pod Save America podcast. “I cannot recall somebody having done that. It’s massive.”
The US has spent billions of dollars on military support for Israel, its Middle East ally, and even more on the war on Iran – a conflict that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been seeking for decades. This context has made the primary race a focal point for activists concerned about the direction of American foreign policy and the influence of lobbyists on Capitol Hill.
“Today’s historic victories in Michigan prove that Palestine will win at the polls again and again,” Iman Abid, the political director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights Action, said in a statement. Sally Howell, a history professor at the University of Michigan-Dearborn who pioneered academic research about Arab-American and Muslim-American communities, said El-Sayed’s win represents “genuine change” for Michigan.
“It tells us that voters are very frustrated with the establishment – the establishment in Washington and the establishment in the Democratic Party,” Howell told Al Jazeera. “They want leaders who are going to bring change, not more of the same.” Even with polls showing that the general election is up for grabs, analysts are emphasizing that the primary results have fundamentally altered the landscape of Michigan politics, forcing both parties to reconsider their strategies in an increasingly volatile electoral environment.
Across the US, from California to Colorado to Pennsylvania to New Jersey to New York, progressives have won similar races, ousting several incumbents and claiming open seats in safe Democratic districts.
Michigan is home to more than 10 million people.
Russell Ellis, the social media commentator known as “Jolly Good Ginger”, said voters across the US are showing that they are “fed up” with Israel and AIPAC.
In Tuesday’s election, progressive state legislator Donavan McKinney defeated pro-Israel incumbent Shri Thanedar in a Democratic primary for the US House of Representatives.
His platform is focused on affordability and expanding access to healthcare.
“The amount of voters that are drawing a red line at sending bombs to continue a genocide is much larger than people are accepting that it is.
“I think most Americans can agree that we can’t support genocide, and that using American taxpayer dollars and American bombs to commit genocide in Gaza, in Sudan, in Congo, anywhere is unacceptable.”
We want to fund healthcare, not warfare.”