DETROIT: US Democrats vote on Tuesday in their marquee primary in Michigan, choosing between a left-wing insurgent and an establishment-backed congresswoman in a contest that has become a proxy war over Israel, electability and the future of the national party.
The winner will face former Republican congressman Mike Rogers in November for the seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Senator Gary Peters, a race central to the party´s difficult effort to win control of the Senate. Democrats must defend Michigan while gaining four Republican-held seats to control the upper chamber, making the primary more than an ideological exercise in a state that has swung between the two parties in recent national elections.
Analysts say the results will show whether a current leftist surge among Democrats can move beyond party safe seats and win in battlegrounds with national consequences -- or whether Michigan´s Democratic establishment can still hold the line.
Abdul El-Sayed, a former Wayne County health director backed by leftist leaders Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, has cast himself as a working-class fighter willing to confront corporations, party leaders and increasingly unpopular pro-Israel donors.
Haley Stevens, a four-term lawmaker from the Detroit suburbs, has built her campaign around experience, manufacturing and electability. She is supported by establishment figures from Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer to Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
Several recent polls have shown El-Sayed ahead, raising the prospect of the left´s biggest victory yet in a primary season marked by a series of anti-establishment wins.
His allies say the campaign´s volunteer energy proves progressives can build a statewide coalition without relying on Washington´s traditional donor network.
“Momentum doesn´t happen by accident,” said Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of the grassroots group Our Revolution, which says its volunteers have made more than 300,000 voter contacts for El-Sayed.
Stevens is counting on support that she says may be underrepresented in opinion polls -- from Black voters, older Democrats and people without college degrees.
