El-Sayed has repeatedly accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and has described both Hamas and the Israeli government as “evil.”
By United with Israel Staff
Michigan’s closely watched Democratic Senate primary remained unresolved Wednesday morning, with some media outlets projecting anti-Israel progressive candidate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed as the winner while others continued to classify the race as too close to call.
NBC News called the race for El-Sayed, but CNN and Fox News had not projected a winner as of Wednesday morning, citing thousands of outstanding ballots in Detroit’s Wayne County.
According to CNN, El-Sayed led Rep. Haley Stevens by roughly 19,400 votes as of 6:30 a.m. ET, with more than 1.5 million ballots counted—surpassing the turnout record for any non-presidential Democratic primary in Michigan dating back at least to 1998. The remaining vote is concentrated in Wayne County, the state’s largest and traditionally slowest-counting county.
Stevens won more than 60% of the latest batch of roughly 6,000 votes reported from the county, but CNN estimates thousands of ballots remain outstanding, leaving her with a narrow path to erase El-Sayed’s lead.
El-Sayed, a former public health official and national surrogate for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, has repeatedly accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and has described both Hamas and the Israeli government as “evil.” He has referred to Israel as a “rogue state,” argued that the United States should end what he called “blank checks” for the Israeli military, and has questioned the concept of Israel as a Jewish state, saying he does not believe in “ethno-states.”
During the 2026 Iran conflict, El-Sayed also suggested that AIPAC’s influence in Washington contributed to U.S. policy toward Iran, further cementing his standing among the party’s progressive anti-Israel wing.
Stevens has taken a markedly different approach. A longtime supporter of Israel, she has described herself as a “proud pro-Israel Democrat,” strongly opposes the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, has repeatedly defended Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, and voted to maintain U.S. military assistance to Israel.
After visiting Israel in 2019, Stevens described the trip as transformative and has called Israel “America’s strong ally,” “a democracy,” and “a beacon of hope.” She has also supported sanctions against the International Criminal Court following its efforts to prosecute Israeli officials.
The race also attracted heavy outside spending, with United Democracy Project, an AIPAC-affiliated super PAC, spending approximately $15 million supporting Stevens and opposing El-Sayed, making it one of the most expensive Democratic primaries of the cycle.
Beyond deciding the Democratic nominee in a key battleground state, the primary has become a broader referendum on the Democratic Party’s future direction on Israel. The eventual outcome is expected to be closely watched as a measure of Democratic voters’ views on Israel and Middle East policy heading into November’s general election.
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