Before the midterms
Left-wing Democrat El-Sayed wins Michigan primary
Updated August 5, 2026 – 4:56 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
It is an internal party primary that is considered central to the midterm elections: In the hotly contested state of Michigan, a progressive will run for the Democrats in the race for the Senate seat.
The Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, who is considered progressive, is in the state Michigan in a highly publicized internal party primary for a seat in the US Senate. He narrowly held his own against Democrat Haley Stevens, who belongs to the moderate camp, as US media unanimously predicted. The race took place in the USA also given great importance with a view to the outcome of the midterm elections in November.
In Michigan, one of the 33 seats in the US Senate up for election will be voted on November 3rd. El-Sayed is then competing against Republican Mike Rogers. The result could be decisive for the future majority in the House of Representatives: Experts see the race for the seat in the “swing state,” which is contested between Republicans and Democrats, as one of the few in which the outcome of the election is difficult to predict in advance. A central question from the Democrats’ perspective is how good their left-wing candidate El-Sayed’s chances are of scoring points in the midterm elections beyond his own party.
US President Donald Trump called the reports of El-Sayed’s victory “great news for the Republican Party.” On his platform Truth Social he accused him of being a “communist failure.” Trump has recently repeatedly used the communism label for left-wing Democrats who have recently celebrated successes elsewhere.
El-Sayed is campaigning for universal health insurance
El-Sayed was born in Michigan to Egyptian immigrants. He studied medicine at Columbia University and received his doctorate from the University of Oxford. At age 30, he rose to become head of Detroit’s health department. In 2018, he ran in the primary election for governor in Michigan, but was defeated by Gretchen Whitmer.
His core demands include universal state health insurance (“Medicare for All”), greater taxation of the super-rich, the rejection of large donations from companies and measures against the Climate change. At the same time, El-Sayed takes a very critical stance towards Israeli government policy and calls for a stop to US military aid.
He enjoys great support in the left wing of his own party. In addition to Senator Elizabeth Warren, among others, there were also members of Congress Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Ro Khanna pronounced on his behalf.
