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Michigan Senate primary fight
Abdul El-Sayed campaigned in Ferndale, Michigan on July 8 against Rep. Haley Stevens in what Mother Jones described as “the most expensive Democratic Senate primary in history,” with AIPAC and affiliated groups pouring more than $30 million into the race in support of Stevens.
“AIPAC will spend huge amounts of money if you’re uppity like me and you speak out of turn to beat you”
El-Sayed framed the contest as a referendum on money in politics, saying, “AIPAC will spend huge amounts of money if you’re uppity like me and you speak out of turn to beat you, and you’re seeing it play out on TV every day.”
Vox reported that AIPAC’s spending is aimed at defeating El-Sayed and ensuring Stevens wins the Democratic nomination, describing it as AIPAC’s biggest-ever investment in a single election with “more than $30 million” spent to defeat El-Sayed.
Rolling Stone said El-Sayed is running a Bernie-style crusade with a mantra of “money out of politics, money in your pocket, Medicare for all,” and it reported that Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Democratic Party establishment have endorsed Stevens while AIPAC has dropped tens of millions of dollars on Stevens’ behalf.
In Dearborn, Michigan, Al Jazeera reported that Arab American activist Suehaila Amen said she has found “a beacon of hope” in El-Sayed’s bid, and she described watching AIPAC as a “so-called empire” that she wants to see fall.
Voices, attacks, and polling
Vox said El-Sayed is explicitly running against AIPAC and that “several recent surveys” show him with a double-digit lead, arguing that if he wins it would be AIPAC’s worst-ever defeat.
Rolling Stone described the campaign’s political clash with Stevens, quoting Stevens’ last-debate attack that “we don’t need a celebrity candidate,” and it said El-Sayed has hammered Stevens for AIPAC expenditures.
In Al Jazeera’s reporting from Dearborn, Mayor Abdullah Hammoud told the outlet, “I still think it is incumbent upon us to participate in the democratic process,” as community leaders urged participation despite perceived indifference from both major parties.
Al Jazeera also quoted Abbas Alawieh at a Friday night rally, where he said, “Bint Jbail is not far away. Bint Jbail is right here where you are sitting,” tying the local campaign to what he described as ethnic cleansing in Lebanon.
Jewish Insider described a separate but related Democratic primary dynamic in the 11th District, quoting State Sen. Jeremy Moss saying the language on his opponent’s mailers was “very clear to say AIPAC-linked donors,” and that “One more dig deeper than that is just — it’s Jews.”
What’s at stake next
The stakes described by Mother Jones extend beyond Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, because the winner will face Republican Mike Rogers in a general election contest, and Democrats need to win races like Michigan to take control of the Senate.
“The winner will face Republican Mike Rogers”
Al Jazeera reported that El-Sayed’s supporters see the nomination as “historic,” with Suehaila Amen saying, “We want to show the world that not everybody is going to align with Israel’s interests,” while she argued that candidates should “putting America first” and “putting their constituents first.”
Vox framed the contest as a test of AIPAC’s influence, saying it “may well come up short,” and it linked that possibility to a Democratic base shift against Israel due to the devastation of the Gaza war.
Rolling Stone added that El-Sayed is polling ahead of Stevens by 10 points heading into Tuesday’s primary, while also reporting that El-Sayed has been outspent 12 to1 and that the airwaves are saturated with AIPAC spending on Stevens.
In the broader political context, Mondoweiss said an AP headline declared that “in Michigan, AIPAC faces ‘the biggest test of its influence yet,’” and it described the race as a referendum on whether AIPAC’s heavy spending remains effective.
