DETROIT — Dr. Abdul El-Sayed was projected Wednesday to defeat Rep. Haley Stevens in a nail-biting Michigan Democratic Senate primary, giving progressives their most significant victory yet in this midterm election cycle.
El-Sayed — who championed radical left-wing economic and social reforms, including so-called “Medicare for all,” abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), hiking taxes and ending US aid to Israel — was called as the winner by the Associated Press and other outlets shortly before 10 a.m. ET.
With 99% of the expected vote tallied, El-Sayed led Stevens by fewer than 15,000 votes out of more than 1.5 million cast, an unexpectedly close result after a series of surveys in the final week before primary day showed him leading by double-digits.
More than $80 million was spent on the Michigan race, making it the most expensive Senate Democratic primary ever, according to AdImpact.
El-Sayed, who was walloped by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary, will now face former Rep. Mike Rogers in the November general election, which Democrats see as a must-win for their hopes of taking control of the Senate next year.
While progressive candidates linked to the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) have flourished in deep-blue areas this cycle, El-Sayed’s win is significant as it comes in a purple state that backed Donald Trump in the 2016 and 2024 presidential elections.
El-Sayed will become the first Muslim elected to the Senate in US history if he defeats Rogers. At his watch party in at Detroit’s Majestic Theatre, several of his supporters were seen performing Islamic prayers.
Rogers predicted the bruising Democratic primary would hamper his challenger in November.
“Whoever comes out of it is going to have a coalition problem. Remember, voting starts in about five or six weeks. We’re in an election cycle now,” Rogers told The Post hours before El-Sayed’s primary win.
“We’ve been building toward that day. They’ve been fighting each other and moving further and further to the left.”
Tuesday’s primaries saw other victories for Michigan progressives, with “Squad” Rep. Rashida Tlaib, state Rep. Donavan McKinney, and Bernie Sanders-backed William Lawrence winning over moderate challengers.
However, El-Sayed was the star of the far-left slate, with controversial streamer Hasan Piker among those who flew into Michigan for the final days of the primary race.
The primary turned nasty at times, with El-Sayed suggesting that Stevens was unable to “string together two coherent sentences” and implying that she was bought by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), whose super PAC spent nearly $30 million backing her.
Stevens, 43, went viral for her Midwestern accent and catchphrase, “Stick it to ’em.”
She downplayed the national overtones of the race and insisted, “It’s a Michigan moment for me.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) publicly backed Stevens, as did the term-limited Gov. Whitmer and retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), who stumped with Stevens Sunday.
Polls show a toss-up race between Rogers and El-Sayed, with Democrats hoping widespread backlash to the Trump administration would be enough to carry their nominee over the finish line.
“When they say I’m not electable, they’re not talking about me,” El-Sayed told supporters during a rally in Grand Rapids on Saturday.
“They’re saying that you couldn’t possibly be open-minded enough … to elect somebody with a name like mine who prays like I do in a state like ours.”
Democrats currently need to flip a net of four seats to take control of the US Senate for the first time in four years.
“We have a real shot to take the majority of the United States Senate,” Peters told reporters Sunday while stumping for Stevens. “That’s become increasingly likely as every month goes by. But it doesn’t happen if we lose Michigan.
“This state is absolutely critical.”
