Progressive El-Sayed scores upset in Michigan Democratic Senate primary

Abdul El-Sayed has won Michigan’s Democratic nomination for the US Senate, defeating Rep. Haley Stevens in a closely fought primary, according to the Associated Press on Wednesday.

El-Sayed will face former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, who ran unopposed, in the Nov. 3 midterm election. The seat is open following the retirement of Sen. Gary Peters and is considered crucial to Democratic hopes of regaining control of the Senate.

Stevens later said she would support him in the general election.

“Tomorrow we begin to mend fences,” El-Sayed told supporters before the AP called the race.

The former Wayne County health director campaigned on Medicare for All, campaign finance reform and ending US military aid to Israel. He was backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen said the result “should be a wake-up call to the Washington Democratic establishment.”

Stevens, a four-term congresswoman backed by Peters, focused her campaign on manufacturing and argued she was better positioned to defeat Rogers.

Her campaign also benefited from tens of millions of dollars in outside spending, including what was reported to be the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s largest-ever investment in a single race.