Back in April, three Democrats declared their intentions to run for the Senate seat currently held by Democrat Gary Peters, who announced in January that he would not run for a third term.
Rep. Haley Stevens, who has been in Congress since 2019, threw her hat into the ring in late April after two others jumped in:
Stevens, who lives in Birmingham, joins a Democratic race that is already getting crowded, with state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, of Royal Oak, and former Wayne County health director Dr. Abdul El-Sayed already announced, former state House Speaker Joe Tate, of Detroit, eyeing the race and state Attorney General Dana Nessel talked up by pundits as a possible candidate.
Per local reports, Stevens perhaps has the most name recognition among those on the Democrat side who have declared so far, and has manufacturing industry creds that could potentially win her a lot of support statewide.
But because she has generally taken pro-Israel stances, there is concern among party leaders in the state that it could present problems for Muslim voters who, like Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, believe the Democrat Party has abandoned them over the Israel-Hamas war:
But she may also face opposition from certain factions inside the Democratic Party, especially from younger voters and voters in the state’s Arab American and Muslim communities, who chastised Democratic former President Joe Biden’s administration for not actively opposing Israel’s counterattacks on Hamas in Gaza.[…]Stevens could still see some opponents try to hit her for her vocal support of Israel’s right to defend itself from aggression and the financial backing from the pro-Israel American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) she has received. Stevens, it should be noted, also urged a ceasefire in Gaza and an exchange of hostages, as well as arguing for a two-state solution to protect Palestinians and bring peace to the region.
It is the possibility of “proxy battles” playing out between pro-Israel and “pro-Palestinian” candidates in the race that has Rep. Debbie Dingell urging them not to let it get contentious:
Democrats are gearing up for another potentially brutal intraparty fight brewing in their Senate primary. And Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) is privately warning candidates and party officials that there’s a real risk it could become a costly “proxy battle” between AIPAC and the pro-Palestinian “Uncommitted” movement. “I want both of them to work to make sure it doesn’t,” Dingell told us, ostensibly referring to candidates Rep. Haley Stevens, who many Washington Democrats are backing, and Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive favorite with the backing of Bernie Sanders.A replay?“I do think that if AIPAC comes in and goes negative on [El-Sayed’s] campaign, they’re going to alienate a broad swath of Arab and Muslim voters who already demonstrated in 2024 that they’re extremely frustrated with AIPAC coming in and dictating elections for them,” said a person involved in the race.
Dingell has long warned Democrats to not get too comfortable over claims of Michigan being a “blue state,” as she has previously declared it to be “purple” – something seemingly confirmed in the 2024 election when Donald Trump won the presidential election but Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D) won the Senate race to replace the retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow.
A heated, costly primary battle could hobble the eventual Democrat nominee going into the general election campaign season, providing an opening for a GOP nominee backed by President Trump to have a real shot at defying the odds in a state that hasn’t had a Republican in the United States Senate in nearly 25 years.
Will that GOP nominee be former Rep. Mike Rogers? He was the nominee in 2024, narrowly losing to Slotkin in a nailbiter.
Rogers also announced his candidacy last month, the first among what could also be a growing field on the Republican side:
Mr. Rogers is so far the only Republican to enter the 2026 race, though Representative Bill Huizenga, who has served in Congress since 2011, is expected to run. On Monday, Mr. Huizenga went further in teasing a bid, writing on X that he was “encouraged by the outreach and calls I have received” and would “continue to talk with voters and ask them who they believe is the best candidate for Republicans to nominate and elect to serve Michigan in the U.S. Senate.”
Other possible contenders include Tudor Dixon, who lost the Michigan governor’s race to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2022, and Kevin Rinke, who lost to Ms. Dixon in that race’s Republican primary.
Make sure to put these primaries on your “ones to watch” list.
-Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via Twitter/X.-
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