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DETROIT — The Democratic Party’s progressive wing was aiming to notch its biggest victory yet Tuesday, hoping to deliver a high-profile blow to the center-left establishment in an intensifying ideological battle.
But the anticipated triumph, in battleground Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, will have to wait.
That’s because the race between left-wing candidate Abdul El-Sayed, a former Wayne County Health Department director, and Rep. Haley Stevens, a more moderate contender, was too close to call in the early Wednesday hours.
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While the biggest prize was yet to be awarded as five states from coast to coast held primary elections, the establishment scored some victories, including Rep. Wesley Bell of Missouri defeating Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)-backed challenger former Rep. Cori Bush, a one-time Squad member, in a rematch of their 2024 showdown.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s powerful sway over the Republican Party was reaffirmed as two Trump-backed candidates won gubernatorial nominations in Michigan and Kansas.
Here are the top takeaways from a busy primary night across the country.
Verdict still out in high-stakes showdown
“We’re going to have to wait a little longer to see the outcome of this race,” El-Sayed told supporters at a primary night event in Detroit early Wednesday morning.
El-Sayed, a former Wayne County Health Department director backed by top leaders of the left, including progressive champions Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, held on to a razor-thin lead over Haley, who is supported by establishment leaders including longtime Senate Democratic leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, as votes continued to be counted.
“I know it’s been a long night because that’s the Michigan way. But I want to give you all an update. I. We knew that this was going to be a close race, and that’s exactly what we’ve got. A close race,” Stevens said.
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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.
Boosted by a string of victories this spring in mostly blue congressional districts across the country, the Democrats’ ideological war moved to the Great Lakes battleground state, where the combustible and expensive clash became the biggest stage to date in the intra-party showdown.
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 — even characterizing Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide” against Palestinians.
Schumer and the party establishment view Stevens, who flipped a GOP-held district in her 2018 election to Congress, as more electable than El-Sayed, who has sparked controversy with his past comments.
Over $80 million was spent on the primary showdown, making it the most expensive Democratic Senate nomination race in history. Much of the money was shelled out by outside groups in support of Stevens and against El-Sayed. The biggest spending came from United Democracy Project, a political action committee aligned with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
“We all knew that we’re going to spend their money. We didn’t know they were going to spend $70 million of their money. We didn’t know that they were going to outspend us $11 to $1. And yet we’re still standing,” El-Sayed highlighted in his speech.
El-Sayed urged party unity and took aim at former Rep. Mike Rogers, the GOP Senate nominee.
So did Stevens in her primary night speech.
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“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,” she argued.
The left-wing versus establishment battle also played out in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, a key Republican-controlled swing seat race that’s among roughly two-dozen that will impact whether the GOP holds onto its fragile House majority.
William Lawrence, a co-founder of the Sunrise Movement, which advocates for political action to tackle climate change, edged out two more moderate Democrats. Lawrence is backed by Sanders and El-Sayed, as well as some top progressive groups. Lawrence will now face GOP Rep. Tom Barrett in the general election.
And the party’s civil war was also on display in Michigan’s deep blue 13th Congressional District, where the Associated Press had yet to project a winner.
Rep. Shri Thanedar, who is supported by top House Democratic leaders, is being challenged by state Rep. Donovan McKinney, who is backed by Sanders, El-Sayed, and “Squad” members Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and Summer Lee of Pennsylvania
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Wins for centrists to cheer
The party’s ideological warfare was front-and-center in Missouri, in the state’s St. Louis-based and heavily Democratic 1st Congressional District.
That’s where Bell, who was backed by House Democratic Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and other establishment leaders, defeated Bush, a former two-term representative who Bell ousted in the 2024 primary.
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Bell was once again boosted by a major infusion of outside money, allowing him to massively outspend Bush and her allies. Much of the funding and attack ads targeting Bush came from United Democracy Project — the super PAC aligned with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel advocacy group best known by its acronym, AIPAC. Bush was one of the first House Democrats to accuse Israel of genocide against Palestinians in its war against Hamas in Gaza.
“Two years ago, St. Louis voted for better and more accountable representation. We have kept that promise, whether it’s bringing federal resources home to our neighborhoods, standing with working folks when they needed someone in their corner, or helping families cut through red tape,” Bell said following his victory. “That work does not stop tonight.”
But Bush lambasted Bell, calling him out for not showing up to candidate forums and claiming he is controlled by billionaires.
“It pisses me off that for the next two years, this community will be represented by someone that didn’t deem you valuable enough to show up to one candidate forum where there were audience comments, even though I showed up to every one,” Bush emphasized.
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Back in Michigan, two candidates who are far from left-wingers captured Democratic nominations in statewide contests. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson won the Democratic gubernatorial primary in the race to succeed term-limited Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel was renominated.
“It’s not all that clear that the party has shifted that far to the left,” Matt Bennett, one of the leaders at the Third Way, a leading center-left Democratic organization, told Fox News Digital.
Pointing to the increasing visceral opposition to Trump by Democrats across the country, Bennett said the Senate primary results in Michigan may be “a unique situation where candidates matter.”
“And in this moment Democratic voters everywhere are very very angry at Trump and they’re flipping over the tables and taking it out on the establishment and Haley, for better or worse, has run as the establishment.”
Trump flexes political muscle
Trump’s immense clout over the GOP and the power of his endorsements in Republican primaries was tested once again on Tuesday, and the president easily passed the test.
Trump-backed Rep. John James of Michigan, a West Point graduate and two-time GOP Senate nominee, topped multi-millionaire businessman Perry Johnson, a former gubernatorial and presidential candidate, to capture the party’s gubernatorial nomination.
James now takes on Democratic nominee and current Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, in the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
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In Kansas, Trump-endorsed state Senate President Ty Masterson prevailed in a crowded field of Republican gubernatorial contenders.
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is term-limited, which makes the race to succeed her a top flip opportunity for the GOP.
Fox News’ Matthew Donnell and Luke Trevisan contributed to this report.
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