In Tuesday’s primary election for U.S. Senate in Michigan, a progressive socialist-backed candidate is facing a much more moderate Democrat. The outcome could provide insights into the future of the Democratic Party.
Abdul El-Sayed, a candidate endorsed by the far-left wing of the party, is facing off against U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, a centrist, pro-Israel candidate currently serving in the state’s 11th Congressional District.
Recent polling has indicated that El-Sayed, who was once neck and neck with Stevens, is now surging in popularity after last week’s debate.
Anti-Israel Party?
Steve Cortes, the founder of the League of American Workers, has done extensive polling in the state. He told the Daily Signal that El-Sayed’s candidacy “proves that moderates are not welcome in the Democratic Party in 2026.”
“These are not your parents’ or grandparents’ Democrats,” he said. “Abdul is a terrorist sympathizer who personifies the extremist move within the Democrat Party toward a toxic union of Islamism and Marxism. That radical alliance is also represented by officials like Ilhan Omar and Zohran Mamdani.”
El-Sayed’s run for office has had many moments of controversy. Earlier this year, The Washington Free Beacon released footage of El-Sayed’s internal communications with staffers, in which he said he would not comment on the death of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei because it could “upset” some voters, and that many of Michigan’s Muslim voters “are sad.”
The progressive candidate opposes U.S. foreign aid to Israel and has refused to answer whether Israel should be a Jewish state. Such views have split many Democrats.
On social media, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat from New Jersey, questioned El-Sayed’s views on cutting aid to Israel after the candidate repeatedly said the United States should spend money at home instead of abroad.
“If Michiganders don’t want their tax dollars sent abroad, will El-Sayed also be ok with cutting off critical American military and humanitarian support for Ukraine, Taiwan, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Kenya, etc.? Or is this just about Israel?” he wrote on Facebook.
Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., an outspoken member of the congressional Sharia Free America Caucus, has been even more vocal, calling El-Sayed a “jihadist” and a “communist” who has a chance of winning the Democratic Party primary.
“The Dem party is a Jew-hating lunatic party that has lost its way,” Fine told the Daily Signal.
While he thinks it’s possible El-Sayed could win on Tuesday, he remained optimistic that he would lose in the general election in November, when he would have to face off against U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich.
Democratic Socialist Label
El-Sayed has denied being a socialist. However, he campaigns with democratic socialist candidates and is endorsed by various Democratic Socialists of America candidates and chapters. He has also been campaigning on a platform that seems to mirror that of the DSA, such as “Medicare for All,” abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and ending the Israeli-American military alliance.
The “socialist” label has instilled fear among many congressional Democrats and political insiders who want to distance themselves from the far-left members of their party.
On Fox News over the weekend, Gottheimer argued that socialists are trying to take over the Democratic Party, which he called “unacceptable.”
“They’re trying to use the Democratic Party as a vessel for their ideas,” the Democrat congressman said. “Literally, they’re supporting ‘The Communist Manifesto’ and Trotsky; they’re anti-American, they’re anti-cop, [and] they don’t believe in borders.”
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., has called self-proclaimed socialist candidates the “dirtbag Left.”
Cortes, with his many years of experience watching elections, said he doesn’t believe El-Sayed can become Michigan’s next senator.
“Although El-Sayed can win a Democrat primary, his brand of far-Left anti-Americanism will not carry a commonsense, moderate battleground state like Michigan,” he said.
Platforming Disgraced Men?
If El-Sayed wins on Tuesday, the outcome could outrage Democrats who have concerns about the candidate campaigning alongside controversial figures such as former Senate candidate Graham Platner and Turkish-heritage online streamer Hasan Piker.
Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Mich., in a CNN interview, said that El-Sayed chose “to campaign with Hasan Piker, who said America deserved Sept. 11. Sure, he went on to disavow those comments, but I’m telling you, nobody on my team would ever, you know, come even close to making a comment like that.”
Scholten sounded the alarm on the direction her party is headed by providing a platform to people like El-Sayed and Platner.
“I think that condoning behavior like this from candidates like Abdul El-Sayed is taking us in a direction that we don’t want to go as a party,” she said. “I don’t need $20 million to study why young men stopped voting for the Democratic Party.”
Top Michigan Dems Are Backing Stevens
Stevens has voted consistently with the Democratic Party, earning only a 5% score on The Heritage Foundation’s legislative scorecard. According to the scorecard, her record is consistent with only 10% of House Democrats.
In the 118th Congress, Stevens voted against the SAVE America Act, a key voter integrity legislation championed by President Donald Trump. She also voted against legislation to prohibit the Federal Reserve from creating a centralized digital currency. During the 119th Congress, she introduced articles of impeachment against Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
On the campaign trail, Stevens was attacked by El-Sayed for taking contributions from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, and from large utility companies such as DTE Energy or Consumers Energy.
Despite the controversy surrounding her campaign funding and Democrat-aligned voting record, her Democrat colleagues, such as Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, former Sen. Debbie Stabenow, and Sen. Gary Peters, have backed her in the race.
Neither El-Sayed’s campaign nor Stevens’ campaign returned the Daily Signal’s request for comment.
[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]
