Left-wing political outsider Abdul El-Sayed wins Democratic Senate primary in Michigan

The November midterm elections will determine the balance of power in Washington for the last two years of President Donald Trump’s time in office.

Trump declared the Michigan Senate result “Great news for the Republican Party”.

In his post on Truth Social, Trump referred to the Democratic Party as the “Dumocrats”, and claimed their “crazy policies will only get worse!”

After a bruising and sometimes bitter campaign, El-Sayed hinted at bridge-building when he addressed supporters on Tuesday night, before the outcome was known.

“Whatever happens tonight, we have a responsibility to ensure that we unite, unite to make sure that [Republican] Mike Rogers never sees the inside of the US Senate.”

El-Sayed, who was endorsed by left-wing politicians including Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and New York City congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, has voiced support for progressive causes like universal healthcare and abolishing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Stevens, 43, took a more moderate approach, pitching herself as the middle-of-the-road candidate who would appeal to voters unsure of which party to back in November. She made a promise to save manufacturing jobs in Michigan, should she be elected.

Stevens earned the endorsement of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, as well as outgoing Senator Gary Peters.

One of the biggest areas where the candidates disagreed was their stance on Israel.

El-Sayed spoke out against US involvement in the Middle East, including aid to Israel. Stevens, meanwhile, is staunchly pro-Israel and has said she supports upholding US aid to Israel without conditions.

El-Sayed’s candidacy drew both support and opposition from Michigan’s Jewish community due to his stance on the US-Israel relationship.

He has rejected allegations of anti-Semitism, which Trump renewed in his Truth Social post on Wednesday.

“I stand in solidarity with my Jewish sisters and brothers,” El-Sayed said on Wednesday. “We can condemn anti-Semitism and at the same time, we can be talking about how we bring people together, and we can be talking about everybody’s pain.”

The Senate seat is currently held by a retiring Democrat. The last time the Midwestern state elected a Republican senator was in 1994.

In presidential elections Michigan is one of the crucial swing states. It voted for Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 but went for Trump in 2024.

A handful of other US states too held their primaries for statewide and national offices on Tuesday night, setting up partisan battles in November.

In Kansas, Democratic State Senator Cindy Holsher and Trump-backed Republican legislator Ty Masterson advanced in the governor’s race.

In Ohio, Congressman Wesley Bell defeated former Congresswoman Cory Bush in a Democratic primary defined by the candidates’ diverging stances on the US-Israel relationship.

Missouri voters also rejected a Republican-backed amendment that would have made it significantly harder to change the state’s constitution, by raising the bar for passing citizen-led ballot initiatives.