Michigan Senate Primary Election Results: Progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed has won Michigan’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary election, narrowly defeating moderate establishment candidate U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens in a closely watched, highly expensive race. Here’s everything you need to know about his victory, vote count, victory margin, and more.
Michigan Senate Primary Election Results: Who Won Michigan Primary
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Abdul El-Sayed (Dem): Secured 48.9% of the vote (691,560 votes).
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Haley Stevens (Dem): Secured 47.1% of the vote (666,472 votes).
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Mallory McMorrow (Dem): Garnered 4.0% of the vote (56,690 votes).
Michigan Senate Primary Election Results: Victory Margin
Abdul El-Sayed won the Michigan Democratic Senate primary by a victory margin of 25,088 votes (1.8 percentage points).
Michigan Senate Primary Election Results: Vote Counts
|
Candidate |
Vote Count |
Percentage |
|
Abdul El-Sayed |
691,560 |
48.9% |
|
Haley Stevens |
666,472 |
47.1% |
|
Mallory McMorrow |
56,690 |
4.0% |
|
Total Reported |
1,414,722 |
100% |
Michigan Senate Primary Election Results: November General Election
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General Election Matchup: El-Sayed advances to the November 2026 general election, where he will face the Republican nominee, former U.S. Representative Mike Rogers, who ran unopposed in the GOP primary.
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The Seat: The candidates are vying for the seat left open by retiring Democratic Senator Gary Peters.
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A High-Stakes Proxy Battle: The race serves as a prominent bellwether for the ideological direction of the Democratic Party. El-Sayed ran an insurgent campaign focused on a progressive platform—including campaign finance reform and halting military aid to Israel—overcoming more than $50 million in outside spending directed to support the centrist Stevens.
Michigan Senate Primary Election Results: Massive Financial Upset
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The Spending Gap: El-Sayed pulled off a major fundraising upset. Moderate Representative Haley Stevens and her allies spent over $64.5 million on advertisements.
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The Progressive Counter: El-Sayed and his grassroots backers counter-spent just $7.1 million, meaning he was outspent nearly 9-to-1.
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The AIPAC Factor: A significant driver of establishment funding came from pro-Israel groups. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) directed nearly $30 million toward Stevens to defeat El-Sayed over his outspoken criticism of U.S. foreign policy.
Michigan Senate Primary Election Results: Ideological Shift
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Foreign Policy Shift: El-Sayed, who is of Egyptian descent, explicitly campaigned against unchecked U.S. military aid to Israel, calling actions in Gaza a genocide. His win leverages Michigan’s prominent Arab-American voting base.
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Domestic Platform: His insurgent campaign leaned heavily on economic populism, implementing Medicare for All, workers’ rights, and strict campaign finance reform.
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Corporate Pushback: He framed the race as a choice between a “politics of the people” and “politics of the corporations and billionaires”.
The race concluded as a narrow photo-finish. Progressive favorite El-Sayed built his lead across key western and mid-state counties like Washtenaw and Kent. Centrist Representative Haley Stevens nearly closed the gap late in the evening due to a strong mail-in voting surge from Wayne and Oakland counties.
