Michigan Senate Primary
Abdul El-Sayed, a former public-health official, has defeated U.S. Representative Haley Stevens in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. Stevens, who campaigned as a political moderate, received endorsements from much of the Party establishment, including the Senate Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer; the former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi; and Michigan’s governor, Gretchen Whitmer. El-Sayed, who ran to the left of Stevens, campaigning on progressive issues such as Medicare for All and overturning the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, was endorsed by prominent progressive figures such as Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Nationally, the race became a proxy for divisions within the Democratic Party over U.S.-Israel relations. El-Sayed has referred to the Gaza conflict as a genocide and called for an end to “unconditional” military aid to Israel; Stevens, who has said that she supports continuing military aid to Israel, benefitted from more than thirty million dollars of spending from groups affiliated with the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC. On the Republican side, the nominee will be Mike Rogers, a former U.S. representative who is endorsed by Donald Trump.
Michigan Gubernatorial Primary
Jocelyn Benson, Michigan’s secretary of state, defeated Chris Swanson, a local sheriff, to become the Democratic nominee for governor. On the Republican side, John James, a congressman representing the state’s Tenth Congressional District, beat out Perry Johnson, a businessman and a management consultant, for the nomination.