Progressives had a good night in Michigan
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The midterms are coming, and if you think the news cycle feels intense now, just wait until the fall. That's why summer is a perfect time to make sure your news diet is calibrated. I'm Ian Martinez. On Up First, we unpack the three biggest stories every morning so you can stay informed and get on with your day in fewer than 15 minutes. Follow or subscribe to Up First today wherever you get podcasts.
The progressive wing of the Democratic Party is ascendant.
What we showed is that the power of our many is greater than the power of their money.
That's Michigan's Democratic Senate nominee, Abdul El-Sayed, speaking to supporters this morning after that race was called. But what does his win and the success of other progressives mean for November? The general election starts now. It's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Tamara Keith. I cover politics. I'm Ashley Lopez. I also cover politics. And we've got results from primaries all over the country on today's pod. But we're starting with Michigan, where we find Colin Jackson of the Michigan Public Radio Network. Hey, Colin.
Hey.
Late night, early morning, huh?
Very late night, early morning. I got back home at about 6 a.m. today.
And then we still had to wait hours for the race to be called. So tell us about what happened in that Senate race we've been watching so closely between Abdul El-Sayed, an epidemiologist, and Congresswoman Haley Stevens.
Well, you saw Abdul El-Sayed come out victorious. This was a very hard fought battle. This is one of the most, if not the most expensive Senate primary race in the country. According to Ad Impact, you had over $80 million total in outside spending sent on this race. The vast majority of that went to Stevens over El-Sayed. And You know, a lot of people were tempted to frame this as a progressive, you know, people framed El-Sayed as a progressive. He campaigned with Bernie Sanders, with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. A lot of people tried to frame this as, you know, the progressive versus the establishment's clear choice, which was Haley Stevens, who had Governor Gretchen Whitmer's endorsement.
She had the endorsement of many other Democrats in Michigan's congressional delegation. She had the Congressional Black Caucus endorsement. And you saw her fall short despite having a lot of those extra resources spent on her.
Colin, this race had so much outside money poured into it. And a lot of it came from a group associated with AIPAC. Now, that's an organization that lobbies for closer ties between Israel and the U.S., And that became an issue in this race. Tell us about it.
I think that was a big factor in how especially young people felt about this race. You know, during debates against Stevens, El-Sayed constantly made the point that he felt like Israel had an outsized influence in this country's politics and where this money, where the country's money goes. And he was saying a lot of that military support that the U.S. has traditionally given Israel could be better spent here at home on social programs, on building up the social safety net, etc.,
Yeah, this is why this race got so much money and so much attention. It was a test case for a couple of things. One, whether progressives, the left flank of the Democratic Party, has juice in places like Michigan, purple states, states where Republicans often win. And Abdul, yes, won narrowly. But the fact that someone from the left flank, someone who supports stuff like Medicare for all, a big one, the U.S. revisiting its relationship with Israel. That is another big test. These are some big litmus tests in the Democratic Party right now. And the fact that someone was able to bring in a lot of outside money and could not, you know, win her primary against someone who came out of nowhere. I mean, I think if you remember.
He ran for governor before.
Sure. A very crowded governorship where he did not perform very well in that primary, but a very impressive come from behind win here. And, you know, moving forward, the Democratic Party is going to have to figure out, OK.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–4:42
2
What were the key results of Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary?
4:42–11:15
3
How did outside spending, especially AIPAC money, influence the El‑Sayed vs. Stevens race?
11:15–17:11
4
Why does Abdul El‑Sayed’s win matter for progressives in purple states?
17:11–20:31
5
What challenges does El‑Sayed face in the upcoming general election against Mike Rogers?
20:31–24:16