DETROIT, MI – The high-stakes fight between the left-wing and the center-left establishment for the future of the is front-and-center on Tuesday in Michigan’s primary.
Boosted by a string of victories this spring in mostly blue congressional districts across the country, the Democrats’ ideological war moves to the Great Lakes battleground state, where progressive victories could reshape the party and endanger must-hold seats in the midterm elections.
Also at stake as Michigan joins Kansas, Missouri, Virginia and Washington State in holding mid-summer primaries is President s immense clout over the GOP and the power of his endorsements in Republican nominating contests.
But taking top billing is Michigan’s divisive and expensive Democratic Senate primary, which is seen as the biggest stage to date in the fierce fight for the future of the Democratic Party.
“This is ground zero in the battle for the future of the Democratic Party pitting status quo corporate Democrats against shake up the system economic fighters, and well see who wins,” Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), a leading group on the left, told Fox News Digital.
The primary face-off pits , a former Wayne County Health Department director, against Rep. Haley Stevens, a more moderate candidate backed by the establishment. The race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, who is backing Stevens, is a must-hold for the Democrats and one of roughly a dozen Senate races from coast to coast that will determine if Republicans hold onto their slim Senate majority.
Matt Bennett, one of the leaders at the Third Way, a leading center-left Democratic organization, told Fox News Digital the is “the first time the left is competing for a swing seat” and warned, “the significance is it could really put this seat in jeopardy.”
El-Sayed, who, if elected, would make history as the nation’s first Muslim senator, is an epidemiologist who unsuccessfully ran for governor as an insurgent candidate in 2018. He has made support for “Medicare-for-all” a major component of his campaign.
The far-left candidate has also called for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and is a vocal critic of Israel amid its war with Hamas â even characterizing Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide” against Palestinians.
And El-Sayed, who is backed by top far-left leaders and teamed with progressive champions Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York on the Michigan campaign trail two weeks ago, and who served as a top surrogate on Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, has vowed not to accept PAC donations.
Stevens, who flipped a GOP-held district in her 2018 election to Congress, is backed by top national and Michigan Democrats, including Peters, term-limited Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and longtime Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer.
Schumer and the party establishment view Stevens as more electable than El-Sayed, who has sparked controversy with his past comments.
“I am the best Democrat to go forward. I am the only person in this race who has won tough primaries multiple times. You know, running with the Michigan grit, resilience and determination,” Stevens told Fox News Digital on Sunday, as she teamed up with Peters on the campaign trail.
Over $80 million has been spent on the primary showdown, making it the most expensive Democratic Senate nomination race in histo
