Michigan’s Senate primary with a nearly ninefold difference in spending appeared too close to call Wednesday morning, though one corporate media outlet had no qualms declaring a winner.
Throughout the 2026 primaries, the discussion rapidly shifted from the left asserting a referendum on President Donald Trump into a battle for party supremacy among establishment Democrats and socialists who openly align with terrorist sympathizers. In the Wolverine State, NBC News saw fit to make the call for the latter, projecting Abdul El-Sayed as the winner over Rep. Haley Stevens in a contest that remained tight as of 4 a.m. Wednesday.
According to the Associated Press, with 94% of the vote counted, little more than 20,000 votes separated El-Sayed and Stevens in the Democratic Party Senate primary to replace outgoing Michigan Sen. Gary Peters (D).
While many were discussing the latest round of poor polling where some predicted a double-digit victory for the Democratic Socialists of America-supported candidate, NBC News both called the race and put a focus on the growing anti-Israel sentiment on the left.
NBC: Abdul El-Sayed has won the Democratic Primary
If elected in November, Abdul El-Sayed would make history as the first Muslim to serve in the U.S. Senate.pic.twitter.com/zvrGCjJ2Xb
— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) August 5, 2026
Looking like those polls in Michigan were massively off.
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) August 5, 2026
The implied projection from prediction markets is El-Sayed eventually winning by ~4, though a larger win or a Stevens win remain possible.
That would reflect a pretty big polling error, though I doubt AES will care so long as he wins.
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) August 5, 2026
A report from NBC News’ senior national politics reporter Henry J. Gomez described how El-Sayed “overcame a nearly $65 million onslaught of outside money and an establishment that had rallied around Stevens.”
“Like other Democrats who have run to push the party to the left in recent years, El-Sayed accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. That’s a particularly relevant position in Michigan, with its large Muslim and Arab American populations,” he went on to write after framing the general election against former Rep. Mike Rogers (R) come November. “El-Sayed also frequently blasted Stevens over the money she accepted from corporate PACs and the TV air cover she received from big-spending allies, including more than $30 million from a group affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the powerful pro-Israel group known as AIPAC.”
Support for Stevens outspent El-Sayed by roughly ninefold on advertising and, despite having dropped out of the race weeks earlier with an endorsement for El-Sayed, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D) still had an impact on the outcome by pulling more than 60,000 votes for herself.
Addressing supporters early Wednesday morning, El-Sayed said, “We’re going to have to wait a little longer to see the outcome of this race.”
He also raised eyebrows as he expressed, “… if and when we win this race, ‘How are you going to beat Mike Rogers and their money?’ I want you to remind them, if we come through this, when we come through this, inshallah,” invoked the candidate who laughed at the cheers, “that we’ll have taken $70 million on the chin and kept fighting back.”
Democrat nominee for Michigan Senate Abdul El-Sayed: “inshallah”
We are so f***ed if this Muslim wins pic.twitter.com/TrC9FHZXlY
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) August 5, 2026
For her part, Stevens stated, “I know it’s been a long night because that’s the Michigan way. But I want to give you all an update. We knew that this was going to be a close race, and that’s exactly what we’ve got. A close race.”
Both candidates used their election night remarks to demonize Rogers, with Stevens insisting, “Whoever wins is going to go and take on Mike Rogers. Republicans are going to do everything they can to throw all the dirt, all the mud, the kitchen sink at us because they want to keep the U.S. Senate red, so Mike Rogers can keep rubber-stamping Donald Trump’s ridiculous agenda.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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