He defeated moderate Haley Stevens, who was backed by the Democratic establishment, in a vote seen as a test of the party’s direction
3-MIN READ3-MIN ListenReutersPublished: 3:50am, 6 Aug 2026The Democratic Party’s progressive wing scored a high-profile victory on Wednesday when Abdul El-Sayed won the party’s US Senate nomination in Michigan, giving its anti-establishment message a boost ahead of November’s midterm elections.
El-Sayed, a doctor whose campaign focused on healthcare, the economy and an end to unconditional military aid to Israel, was the first progressive to win a statewide primary in a state that US President Donald Trump carried in 2024.
He will face Republican former congressman Mike Rogers in November.
The vote, billed as a defining test of the party’s direction, became an election-night cliffhanger between El-Sayed and US congresswoman Haley Stevens, a moderate supported by Democratic leaders and pro-Israel groups.
With 99 per cent of the estimated votes counted on Wednesday, El-Sayed led Stevens 48.5 per cent to 47.5 per cent, according to Associated Press.
“My hope is that our democracy will never be the same,” El-Sayed said at a press conference on Wednesday. “From here on out, we can always point and say, ‘No, this is the people’s democracy, and we will always own it.’”
