A hotly contested primary is playing out among Democrats in Michigan, vying for the Senate seat currently held by Gary Peters (D), who is retiring at the end of this term.
The three in the mix for the Democratic nomination are Rep. Haley Stevens (MI-11), state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, and former Wayne County health director Abdul El-Sayed.
Of the three, El-Sayed has gotten the most attention in recent weeks thanks to his anti-Israel, pro-Hamas views, his eagerness to sit down with Hasan “America deserved 9/11” Piker, and for leaked audio in which he strategized over not talking about the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei out of respect for the Dearborn voters who were sad about it:
Establishment Democrats view El-Sayed, who is backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), as unelectable, and fear a primary win for him would torpedo their chances of retaking the Senate, where they need four seats to flip it.
Most polls have shown Stevens ahead, but within the margin of error. But the most recent two have shown shifts in favor of El-Sayed, with one showing a three-way tie between the three candidates and one even showing El-Sayed and McMorrow were tied while Stevens trailed significantly:
It is perhaps with the knowledge in mind that his association with Piker and his anti-Israel, anti-AIPAC views don’t appear to be hurting him with Democratic voters that El-Sayed has gotten even more brazen, with him dragging the Vance family into his Senate primary battle, and “joking” with podcaster Brian Allen over their private life. He also disgustingly suggested that Vice President Vance didn’t love his children in a way he’d love white children:
During the conversation, El-Sayed criticised Vance’s political views and questioned how they align with his personal life. Referring to the vice president’s family, he said: “JD Vance has brown kids who he thinks are less American than everyone else. That’s wild to look at your own kids and be like, ‘You don’t actually belong as much in this country that I brought you into.’”
He also made personal remarks about Vance’s wife, Usha Vance, saying: “Do you think about what’s going through Usha’s head when he talks? She’s like, [damn, I have to sleep with him?] I guess she’s pregnant so something is happening.”
Later in the discussion, El-Sayed added: “Usha, get out. Okay, still got time, Vance.” This was interpreted by some social media users as him suggesting that Usha should leave or divorce Vance.
Watch:
All of this was said with the supreme confidence of someone who has figured out that there’s pretty much nothing he can do to lose Democratic voters in Michigan who already support him, outside of reversing course on his Israel stance and softening his position on taking on the Trump administration once (if) he gets elected.
In fact, this primary race has shifted so far left that the other candidates are distancing themselves from AIPAC, including McMorrow, whose husband is Jewish:
Stevens was endorsed by AIPAC, and yet she won’t say if she welcomes it:
“I’m campaigning in a grassroots way alongside a ton of engaged Michiganders,” she said when asked about AIPAC, saying voters were asking her about their high energy costs.
And just to show you how manipulative El-Sayed has been on the issue, he accused Stevens of focusing too much on Israel instead of Michigan, when he’s been the one routinely calling Israel’s actions a “genocide” and referring to PM Benjamin Netanyahu as a “war criminal”:
Stevens has the backing of AIPAC, something El-Sayed says is “disastrous for our politics.”
“We’re running for Senate for Michigan, and as a senator from Michigan, you should be more interested in what’s happening in Michigan than you are interested in what’s happening in Tel Aviv,” El-Sayed said.
The NRSC was right to label this guy the “Michigan Mamdani,” because he’s a lot like the NYC mayor, especially when it comes to having the chutzpah to say some of the things he does.
On the Republican side, former Rep. Mike Rogers (MI-08), who narrowly lost his 2024 Senate race against Elissa Slotkin, has received President Trump’s endorsement. It will be interesting to see how both the primary and the general election pan out on this one.
– Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via X. –
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