Whitmer, Clyburn Endorse Haley Stevens in MI Senate Race As Dems Move to Halt DSA’s Rise
“I saw a picture that concerned me [from] the rally. I didn’t see a single person that looks like me. That tells me all I need to know.”
When Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow dropped out of the race for the Democratic Senate nomination earlier this month, it was viewed by some political observers as a move to help Rep. Haley Stevens (MI-11) against former Wayne County health department director Abdul El-Sayed, a DSA-backed candidate who experienced a surge in polling throughout the spring months of 2026.
El-Sayed, an anti-America and anti-Israel candidate who has said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) should replace Chuck Schumer as the party’s next Senate leader, is one of many Democrats running in primary races who have worried the Democratic establishment due to their alignment with the DSA. While he’s enjoyed the backing of Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Stevens can count Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Rep. James Clyburn (SC-06) among her endorsements.
Whitmer endorsed Stevens on Friday, pointing to her congressional record and work with the Obama administration as a reason why Michigan Democrats should support her over El-Sayed:
“As governor, I’ve had one strategy: get things done. And that strategy informs everything that I do, and that’s why I’m endorsing Haley Stevens for the U.S. Senate,” Whitmer said in a video Stevens shared on X. “Just like me, Haley will do whatever it takes to get things done for the people of Michigan, and we need her now more than ever.”
[…]
Whitmer’s endorsement could be a windfall for Stevens. The governor, who is prevented by term limits from seeking a third term this year, remains popular with Michigan voters. A May poll by the Detroit Regional Chamber measured her job approval rating at 52%.
As Legal Insurrection reported, after McMorrow dropped out of the race, Stevens was the beneficiary, leaping ahead of El-Sayed by seven points. Something notable about that poll was how Stevens was besting El-Sayed among black, older, and working-class Democratic voters, whereas El-Sayed’s strengths were with the white, college-educated, younger Democratic voters and those who say they are Democratic Socialists.
As we also noted, this is a trend we’ve seen in other Democratic primary races where elitist white leftists have been crucial for DSA-backed candidate victories, something Professor Jacobson has described as a key factor in the Great Realignment.
It’s also something prominent black Democratic members of Congress have noticed, including Clyburn:
Yet El-Sayed has a lot of work to do over the next 13 days to cut into Stevens’ lead among Black voters. Case in point: his Detroit rally on Saturday had very few Black attendees, something that Stevens’ allies have since highlighted.
It also underscores a broader demographic challenge and criticism facing the progressive movement over the last several cycles — that it’s an overwhelmingly white faction that doesn’t represent Black or minority voters.
“I saw a picture that concerned me coming out of Michigan. I saw the rally,” Rep. Jim Clyburn(D-S.C.) said in an interview. “I didn’t see a single person that looks like me. That tells me all I need to know.”
Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), who’s backing Haley Stevens in the Michigan Senate race, on Abdul El-Sayed’s Detroit rally:
“I saw a picture that concerned me [from] the rally. I didn’t see a single person that looks like me. That tells me all I need to know.”
Black voters are…
— Andrew Desiderio (@AndrewDesiderio) July 22, 2026
Relatedly, the DNC Rules and Bylaws panel has voted to recommend that South Carolina be the first state for a Democratic presidential primary in 2028:
South Carolina was chosen to hold the first Democratic presidential primary in 2028 after a panel voted on the calendar Friday afternoon. The move was pushed by key Democrats to prioritize Black voters, a reliable and influential voting bloc for the party.
The Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws panel recommended South Carolina vote first over Nevada, New Hampshire and Iowa, who had each been seeking the first spot. Only six states will be permitted to hold primaries before Super Tuesday on March 7, 2028.
[…]
This calendar will be presented to the full DNC in August, to be voted on and finalized.
Speculation swirled after the move that the DNC was doing this to try and stymie an “insurgent” socialist bid from the likes of AOC in 2028, since early primary wins give off the impression of momentum for one candidate or another:
Some commentators believe the decision presents a more difficult path for candidates aligned with the Democratic Party’s progressive or democratic socialist wing.
Conservative commentator Meghan McCain wrote on X that the move was “bad, bad news for the socialists and AOC’s future presidential campaign.”
Political scientist Craig Agranoff of Florida Atlantic University told Newsweek that South Carolina “rewards candidates who can connect with a large and influential Black electorate that tends to prioritize electability and practical results over pure ideology.”
“That dynamic has historically been tough terrain for the most progressive voices in the party,” Agranoff said. “McCain is right that it raises the bar for someone like AOC if she runs.”
– Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via X. –
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Comments
More Botox please
Too little and too late.
We used to call Democrats Socialist.
Now, they call themselves Socialists.
We should be referring to them by what they actually are: Marxists or communists.
What better reason to vote against Haley Stevens, than being endorsed by crooked Wretched Gretchen Whitmer?
Crimes against humanity
Bring on El-Sayed. Unless Democrats rig it against him, that’s who Michigan wants.
Let’s have the Islamo-communo-kleptocratic vs. American values debate.
No need to beat around the bush on it.
“I didn’t see a single person that looks like me. That tells me all I need to know.”” Throw in a dash of identity politics as well.
“I saw a picture that concerned me coming out of Michigan. I saw the rally,” Rep. Jim Clyburn(D-S.C.) said in an interview. “I didn’t see a single person that looks like me. That tells me all I need to know.”
Diversity suddenly no longer a cherished value of the Democratic Party?
Somebody dig up THAT memo and publish it for all of us to see!
The diversity olympics is about to kick off in earnest. The loyal foot soldiers of the d/prog have been told to ‘wait their turn’ for decades and fully expect their turn at the public trough. The problem is there’s only so much room and the DSA/Bernie/AOC sorts are impatient and unwilling to wait their turn so that the establishment Elders can pass the torch to their favored successors. Add in the identity politics/tribalism the leftists demand and things are gonna get spicy in the d/prog coalition with plenty of sharp elbows thrown and backs stabbed.
That’s the pattern alright. I hope their 2028 convention is in Chicago………
Complicating this is the national/Presidential fiasco of the last three elections; in ’16 Bernie was winning then HRC surrogates suddenly began touting Super delegates and then the Iowa fiasco, in ’20 Bernie got pushed aside again with some hardball shenanigans and Clyburn rescuing Biden in SC primary demanding VP Harris as the price, then ’24 and there wasn’t true d/prog primary to protect Biden then the disastrous debate after which nobody could deny he was ‘old/tired/out of it’ and Harris was crowned in the backroom by Elders to avoid a intra party fight between the Establishment and the DSA/Bernie/AOC wing.
So three consecutive Presidential elections and the d/prog establishment has successfully stiff armed and/or out maneuvered the radical leftist wing. There’s some bad blood there. That’s on top of the State and local fights between tribalists for their ‘share’ of the political spoils of elected/appointed offices with blacks v hispanic v asians v Indians v LGBTQIA+2S and who knows what else v AWFLs/Feminists v boring establishment boomer elders that seemingly refuse to retire/ pass the torch that are overwhelmingly white.
Imagine some Gen X loyal foot soldier that’s paid their dues for decades, done the hard work to organize, get out the vote, worked their way up but can’t get the Congressional seat b/c some boomer won’t retire even though they’re in their late 70s and held the office for decades …so they’ve ‘waited their turn’ loyally…. only to be told ‘sorry, this other tribe is ascendant at the moment, thanks for your service but tough cookies.
Such is the life of a greasy pole climber.
But under communism, that’ll all be DIFFERENT!
To enact said communism the d/prog gotta get elected and if they cater to the radical leftist wokiesta DSA antifa adjacent goons (mostly lily white old boomers out to recapture their youth or under 30 failures) they risk POC walking away b/c working class/middle class ‘black, hispanic, asian, indian, ME cultures don’t support tranny nonsense nor do they generally want open borders or expanding H1B to bring in folks to work cheaper/take jobs, over fill classrooms, drive up housing prices and so on. The media does a fair job of creating the narrative that these groups are monolithic but there’s plenty of ‘normies’ among them and some are walking away from d/prog Cray Cray with IMO many more to follow.as the DSA policies enter the spotlight and their disastrous performance is revealed in NYC and other socialist/DSA blue cities.
You write as if the only important concern for the Dems is an inter-generational conflict, rather than differences over policy.
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