{"id":981272,"date":"2026-08-05T01:26:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T01:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/981272\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T01:26:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T01:26:20","slug":"primary-elections-live-updates-in-michigan-senate-race-el-sayed-and-stevens-face-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/981272\/","title":{"rendered":"Primary Elections Live Updates: In Michigan Senate Race, El-Sayed and Stevens Face Off"},"content":{"rendered":"

Progressive Democrats have fared well in numerous congressional primaries across the country this cycle, winning in urban strongholds like New York City<\/a>, Denver<\/a> and Philadelphia<\/a>. On Tuesday night, Michigan voters in the Democratic Senate primary will test progressives\u2019 statewide appeal in a crucial battleground as they choose between Representative Haley Stevens, a moderate endorsed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer<\/a>, and Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a former public health official backed by a slew of progressive leaders.<\/p>\n

The ideological divides among Michigan Democrats may become apparent as results start coming in after 8 p.m. Eastern. Eight counties, which together made up about two-thirds of the statewide vote in recent Democratic primaries, warrant close attention because they represent critical areas of regional and demographic support for both candidates.<\/p>\n

Wayne County<\/p>\n

Wayne is the most populous county in the state and will be responsible for around 20 percent of the statewide vote. The candidates\u2019 success there will largely hinge on their appeal to Black voters, particularly in Detroit, the largest city with a Black majority in the United States.<\/p>\n

Progressives have sometimes struggled in Democratic primaries in Detroit \u2014 Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont, lost the city by wide margins in his two presidential bids, and Dr. El-Sayed placed third there in his 2018 run for governor.<\/p>\n

The Congressional Black Caucus has endorsed Ms. Stevens, who has run ads<\/a> featuring clips of former President Barack Obama praising her in 2018. (Mr. Obama has not endorsed either candidate.)<\/p>\n

Wayne County as a whole is ideologically diverse. In the 2024 presidential primary, several jurisdictions<\/a> had more voters cast a ballot for \u201cuncommitted\u201d than for President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Many were opposed to Mr. Biden\u2019s support for Israel and its war in Gaza. At the same time, Mr. Biden won 86 percent of the vote in Detroit.<\/p>\n

Wayne County<\/p>\n

Biden +19<\/p>\n

Biden +61<\/p>\n

Detroit<\/p>\n

Biden +35<\/p>\n

Biden +78<\/p>\n

Dearborn<\/p>\n

Sanders +31<\/p>\n

Uncommitted +17<\/p>\n

Dearborn Heights<\/p>\n

Sanders +26<\/p>\n

Uncommitted +1<\/p>\n

Hamtramck<\/p>\n

Sanders +51<\/p>\n

Uncommitted +29<\/p>\n

Several of the areas Mr. Biden lost \u2014 including the cities of Dearborn, Dearborn Heights and Hamtramck, which are home to high shares of Arab and Muslim voters \u2014 backed Mr. Sanders in 2020 and could favor Dr. El-Sayed, who strongly opposes the United States\u2019 Middle East policies. The nation\u2019s leading pro-Israel PAC has spent<\/a> about $30 million in support of Ms. Stevens.<\/p>\n

Oakland and Macomb Counties<\/p>\n

The large suburban Detroit counties of Oakland and Macomb are emblematic of two very different kinds of shifts in the Trump era.<\/p>\n

Oakland has some of the state\u2019s highest concentrations of high-income, college-educated voters. Historically a Republican stronghold, the county has swung to the left in both state and local races. Ms. Stevens, whose seat covers a large swath of the county, is expected to do well there.<\/p>\n

Macomb is decidedly more working class, with white residents without college degrees making up 56 percent of the adult population (in Oakland, it is 35 percent). Mr. Obama won Macomb in 2008 and 2012, but the county then voted for President Trump three elections in a row. Ms. Stevens and Dr. El-Sayed are both trying to appeal to voters there, many of whom work in the auto industry. Ms. Stevens has frequently referenced her work on an Obama administration auto rescue task force<\/a>, while Dr. El-Sayed has secured the backing<\/a> of the United Auto Workers.<\/p>\n

Genesee County<\/p>\n

Much like Macomb, Genesee County has trended sharply to the right in the Trump era, with Vice President Kamala Harris winning the county by only four percentage points in 2024 after Mr. Obama won it by nearly 30 percentage points in 2012.<\/p>\n

Genesee has consistently supported more moderate candidates in Democratic primaries. Results from Flint, a majority Black city, may be another indicator of how Black voters are leaning.<\/p>\n

Washtenaw, Ingham and Kalamazoo Counties<\/p>\n

These counties, home to substantial shares of young voters, are important areas for Dr. El-Sayed. Polls have generally shown him running strongest with voters under 30 \u2014 a persistent trend<\/a> for progressive candidates this cycle.<\/p>\n

Washtenaw includes the college towns of Ann Arbor (University of Michigan), where Dr. El-Sayed lives, and Ypsilanti (Eastern Michigan University). Ingham includes East Lansing (Michigan State University), and Kalamazoo includes the city of Kalamazoo (Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo College).<\/p>\n

Michigan\u2019s college towns generated large percentages of protest votes<\/a> against Mr. Biden in the 2024 Democratic primary.<\/p>\n

Kent County<\/p>\n

Kent County is among the fastest-growing<\/a> counties in the state, due in large part to the growth of the Grand Rapids metro area. Kent, which has shifted leftward in recent presidential races, has been a favorable area in the state for progressives: Mr. Sanders won Grand Rapids in both 2016 and 2020.<\/p>\n

Representative Hillary Scholten, a Democrat whose district includes much of the Grand Rapids area, has been a sharp critic<\/a> of Dr. El-Sayed in recent weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Progressive Democrats have fared well in numerous congressional primaries across the country this cycle, winning in urban strongholds…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":981273,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[393438,5229,9124,393437,90,65514,4351,214,239993,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,12325,16854,33345,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-981272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-abdul","tag-america","tag-democratic-party","tag-el-sayed","tag-elections","tag-haley","tag-house-of-representatives","tag-michigan","tag-midterm-elections-2026","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-primaries-and-caucuses","tag-senate","tag-stevens","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117040302259900175","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/981272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=981272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/981272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/981273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=981272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=981272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=981272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}