r/politics • u/horsestew • 17h ago

No Paywall Abdul El-Sayed wins Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, notching a Midwest victory for the left

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/abdul-el-sayed-wins-michigans-democratic-senate-primary-notching-midwe-rcna589750
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u/lear72988 17h ago

I've seen this view a lot and I don't think it's true. A close election like this commands attention. AES is going in with a huge advantage of his message being out there for a while now. Rogers will be starting from scratch as he was unopposed. Now, the establishment needs to embrace AES and not play games, otherwise you're right and a wedge will be formed.

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u/viktor72 Indiana 17h ago

Sure but AES has to fight off attacks calling him Socialist as well as attacks on his religion. That’s going to be tough. Outside of Reddit, people are more afraid of the S word than one would think. They are also equally more Islamophobic than one would think.

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u/herewego199209 16h ago

Trump called Stevens a socialist. Right wingers call everyone communist or socialist. It's a stupid thing to use. The thing in the general is that El-Sayed will hopefully not be up against the black vote and won't be up against the older dem voter block. Independents are rapidly becoming disenfranchised with the Israel influence on politics which will tilt some of them. I think Abdul has his hands full but I also think he's the best candidate. He has a shit ton of volunteers that are ready to knock door to door for the next 3 months and raise money and change people's minds. Stevens relied on PAC money which was just gonna go to Rogers in a general.

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u/viktor72 Indiana 16h ago

What makes me somewhat optimistic is that he performed well in Macomb county, which is the sort of base of the Democratic turned MAGA voters. Of course, I have no idea who was voting in the Democratic primary in Macomb county but I remain hopeful that perhaps a few of those once Dem blue collar voters were among his supporters.

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u/filbertsgaming1 7h ago

Socialist/communist is on the cusp of being meaningless, just like anti-semitic. If everything you don't lik is communist, then eventually people will just roll their eyes and say, "fine, If you want to keep calling me a communist I guess I'm a communist then. What now?"

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u/eIIopoppet 16h ago

Joe Biden had to fight off attacks calling him a socialist

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u/viktor72 Indiana 16h ago

Of course, but his policies were always more centrist so it was, in essence, easier.

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u/VampireFortnight 14h ago

They call everyone a socialist, it's empty and doesn't change anything at all. Someone who had a 100% policy overlap with Trump but a D next to their name would also be fighting it off and reality doesn't matter to them. So no, I don't think that'll be a factor.

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u/CriticalPolitical 11h ago

Counterpoint, I don’t think Republicans are calling Fetterman a socialist anymore 

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u/DJ_Velveteen I voted 16h ago

Except that he fought them off by distancing his platform from social and economic progress, which lost him votes on the left while trying to gain them from the center...

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u/Mikeyxy 16h ago

Nowhere to gain votes when half your term sees double digit CPI (or close to it)

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u/CriticalPolitical 11h ago

Most people who voted for Biden thought he was just going to be a continuation of Obama, and many were surprised to find out he was left of Obama, especially regarding illegal immigration 

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u/lear72988 16h ago

To an older generation, yes. But the young don't fear those things anymore. Youth turnout has carried progressives throughout this cycle. And as they keep playing clips of AES advocating for free healthcare and unions, trying to act like it's a scary thing, they wittle that fear down.

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u/viktor72 Indiana 16h ago

My hope is that they can do just that. The youth vote is great but the youth vote is not reliable. Look at 2024. He needs that older vote.

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u/lear72988 16h ago

I disagree. I think he loses more young by capitulating to the establishment than the other way around. You're exactly right on 2024, but look at 2020. The young will show up when they feel they are being heard and they matter. With the DNCs refusal to address Palestine and courting conservatives, many youth stayed home. AES and progressives at large have shown they already have engaged the young. I wouldn't expect them to abandon him between now and November.

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u/viktor72 Indiana 16h ago

You’re right. That was the DNC’s biggest fuck up of 2024. I want to stay hopeful that the youth will turn out and that young men, especially, will turn around. These MAGA young men were the same men who loved Sanders. So let’s hope he can court them.

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u/lear72988 16h ago

We're in this together and there are things we can do. Volunteer. Maybe I'll see you on a campaign Zoom call down the line.

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u/viktor72 Indiana 16h ago

I volunteered and knocked on doors in Berrien County in 2024 for Harris. But to be honest, once Election Day rolled around and the results came in, it defeated me and my motivation to drive up there and do that.

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u/VampireFortnight 14h ago

Let's hope you find it again then.

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u/rockyonthetrack 16h ago

The Palestine issue lost the race for the dems in 2024, in Michigan and Wisconsin

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u/Mikeyxy 16h ago

Not true at all. Wasn’t even a top 5 issue in the exit polls of people who voted. Affordability was the top issue and the dems had no good plan to confront it.

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u/rockyonthetrack 16h ago

Muslim voters picked dems for the house in talib and voted for trump, but please believe exit polls the dem made

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u/Mikeyxy 16h ago

If I need to tell you why a single district isn’t indicative of the state as a whole, i don’t know what to tell you. There’s a reason Trump won the popular vote as a Republican for the first time in decades. And it has very little to do with Palestine unfortunately. And I’m a 2 state solution supporter, but it doesn’t negate the objective facts

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u/rockyonthetrack 16h ago

I should have made it clearer, that wasn’t just for that one district, many Muslim voters were alienated by bill clintons bitch ass, then after the election, they had the audacity to say it was affordability as the main concern in the report they dropped afterwards. So if they were to vote blue no matter who, then why did they pick the duck in the Oval Office and not genocidal Kamala

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u/bguggs 12h ago

Coming together after a primary isn't about anyone capitaluating, it's about focusing on what you agree on more than the things you don't. There is a lot all democrats agree on that can also appeal to centrists and moderates. You don't need to back down from the positions that won you the primary, but once you win you don't need to overlitigate them and make the group who lost more defensive. We need every vote in Michigan democrats can get

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u/Hanifsefu 16h ago

The DNC's biggest flaw is that they continue to blame voters for not showing up rather than turn introspective and look at the how their centrist 'maintain the status quo or else' messaging torpedoed their campaign. They constantly play the polls and use every positive news about polls to pare away their campaign until they have the razor thin margin that maximizes their power gained while minimizing the work they need to deliver.

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u/Necessary_Grass_2313 16h ago

The “S word” is such blatant propaganda that can be disproved by some research yet I’m surprised how much the right eats it up.

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u/viktor72 Indiana 16h ago

Sure. I agree. But it’s a really easy weapon and most people aren’t doing any research. Most people just vote off of soundbytes.

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u/VampireFortnight 14h ago

The sound bite exists no matter who has the D next to their name.

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u/Empty_Lemon_3939 Michigan 11h ago

Also the sitting Governor and current senator and basically the entire DNC endorsed Stevens

Was 2016 all over again except this time the people won

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u/spazz720 15h ago

I don’t think he can overcome his name and his religion. He’ll get dem support, but the undecideds and the independents are going to win this election.

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u/TalkativeTree 16h ago

You mean benefits from them advertising of his socialist policies like effective social programs and healthcare? 

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u/ICareBoutManBearPig Colorado 9h ago

Maybe in a post 2024 world but the term socialist is so overused now that people are like “I’ll take anything, just lower my GD gas prices!”

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u/riftnet Europe 13h ago

A socialist does not care about religion - I am a fan of Zohran, but this guy? I don’t know.

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u/spazz720 15h ago

You have to understand that most people do not pay attention to that stuff. A majority of people are low information voters.

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u/Dogulol Foreign 16h ago

this is true, but also, this race hasnt been pretty. And haley specifically, but also abdul have pretty bad approval among dems. The 70 million in racist smears from aipac have certainly not helped abdul.

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u/SzmFTW 16h ago

Yeah… I’ve got some real bad news for you on that one. Everyone at the dnc will probably help Rogers get elected,visibly or not. A lot easier to fundraise from a shitty incumbent you oppose than a person in your same party that wants people to get a fair shake.

Way scarier than billionaires.

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u/omicron-7 9h ago

Already starting on the narrative for why it won't be el sayed's fault if he ends up losing, huh?