El-Sayed Wins Michigan Democratic Senate Primary in Blow to AIPAC

Abdul El-Sayed has won the Democratic nomination for the Senate in Michigan, narrowly defeating Representative Haley Stevens in a close contest.

Decision Desk called the race for El-Sayed Tuesday morning, projecting him as the winner with 48.52 percent of the vote to Stevens’s 47.47 percent.

El-Sayed, an epidemiologist and the former Wayne County health director, edged out Stevens despite her receiving heavy financial backing from groups aligned with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. El-Sayed now moves on to the general election, where he’ll face Republican Representative Mike Rogers in November and have a shot at becoming the first Muslim U.S. senator. 

Stevens received $62 million in advertising from outside groups, with $31.9 million of that coming from the United Democracy Project, AIPAC’s super PAC. It wasn’t enough to help her in the end, and El-Sayed called out the massive spending in their final debate last week, pointing out that Stevens had just voted for a pro-Israel resolution. 

“That is the pro quo that comes with the quid,” El-Sayed said in the beginning of the debate. “It really comes down to how you are funded.”

On the campaign trail, El-Sayed emphasized a message of supporting affordability and opposing inequality (issues that he has written about for The New Republic), touting his support for Medicare for All and even offering a comprehensive AI regulation plan.  Down the stretch, Stevens was accused of Islamophobia for some of her campaign ads, including those paid for by the United Democracy Project, and insinuating that El-Sayed was an antisemite.

President Trump went further on Wednesday, posting on Truth Social that El-Sayed’s win was “Great News for the Republican Party” and calling him a “Communist loser who hates Jews and Israel.” 

This story has been updated.