State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, came out of nowhere in 2018 to knock off a well-established Republican incumbent for state legislative seat and then, in 2022, became an Internet and cable news sensation after delivering a blistering counterattack on a GOP colleague who accused her and other Democrats of sexually grooming children.
Now, with less than seven weeks to go until the Aug. 4 Democratic primary − and less than two weeks until absentee ballots go out and Michiganders can begin voting − she finds herself in one of the most hotly contested congressional elections in the country, facing U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham and former Wayne County and Detroit health director Abdul El-Sayed of Ann Arbor in the race for the party nod to replace retiring Democratic U.S. Sen. Gary Peters.
What little independent polling that has been done has shown, on average, El-Sayed, running as the most progressive candidate, with something of a lead, followed by Stevens, who has the support of some mainstream figures (and, apparently, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer) and lots of outside help but also has been criticized by some for accepting the help of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, a staunch supporter of U.S. aid for Israel.
McMorrow, meanwhile, has been a fundraising powerhouse, besting both of the other two in the most recently reported quarter (another wraps up in two weeks). And while polling averages have shown her in third, some individual polls have shown her near or in the lead and she’s still within striking distance, especially if voters who are about to be inundated with TV ads react positively to her as the candidate least likely to divide the party. While Stevens has been criticized for her support of Israel and AIPAC backing, El-Sayed has been criticized in the opposite direction (for campaigning this spring with an Internet influencer facing claims of making antisemitic remarks; last week, a former member of his campaign staff was also among a group indicted for conspiring to threaten University of Michigan officials in response to Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza against Hamas).
How can she do it? The Free Press sat down with McMorrow and asked in a brief question-and-answer session:
Detroit Free Press: It seems like it’s a three-person race right now. What do you do between now and the end of the month when absentee ballots go out to establish yourself as the person who can win? Do you do anything different than you’ve done already?
Mallory McMorrow: Different than we’ve done already? No, it’s just introducing myself to as many people as possible. You started to see me make the case on the debate stage at Mackinac (Island) that I’m the only candidate in the race with a track record of beating entrenched Republicans, building real power, and actually getting it done. The more people we can meet, the more who see my face, who hear my name, who hear that track record, they’re in. So that’s the goal between now and the next seven weeks. I think a lot of people will hold on to their ballots and will make their decisions closer (to the election). There is a lot of fatigue. It feels like a lot of people, with all of the bullshit, the Trump administration, are just exhausted and are waiting to tune into this race. That’s our plan.
DFP: Do you have any worries that if one of your rivals wins the nomination that they might be considered so unacceptable to enough Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents that they won’t vote at all in November and Mike Rogers will win?
MM: Yes and no. I mean, I’m clearly making the case for myself that I know how to throw a punch, I’m not beholden to the D.C. establishment on one side, (that) I have held office before, I’ve won tough elections, and I actually know how to move policy. But I’ve said, at every event we do, no matter what happens on Aug. 4th, we have to come together on Aug. 5. And reminding people of the stakes here, that between the three of us − yes, it is a hotly contested primary, but there’s less that separates us than separates us between the three of us and (likely Republican nominee and former U.S. Rep.) Mike Rogers. Rogers is fawning over Donald Trump. Everything he (Trump) does and says, (Rogers) is siding with, over keeping the Gordie Howe Bridge shut… on healthcare… on the Iran War. And I think just holding his feet to the fire on that is what’s important here, and that’s been a commitment that I’ve made to my supporters, and I genuinely believe it will set any of us up for better success, that we’ve been put through our paces.
Because if you think, in the most competitive Senate race in the country, that the Republicans aren’t gonna run (with) us through the polls, you got another think coming. So any of us are gonna be prepared to take him on and win.
DFP: You have outside money coming in to support you, so do your rivals. Is this a way a race should be run in Michigan?
MM: No, this is not how race should be run. I can’t control any of what the outside money is going to do. I think we always knew there was gonna be a ton of outside money in this race, probably for all of the candidates. But of the three candidates, I’m not accepting corporate PAC money. I’m not backed by AIPAC. I’ve got the largest small-dollar donations of the entire field. I’ve got more grassroots support than Haley and Abdul combined, so I think we blunted the idea that the furthest left candidate is the grassroots candidate. That’s just simply not true.
I’ve got the most donations from Michigan, and I outraised a sitting member of Congress by a million dollars last quarter not taking any corporate donations. So what I want people to know is we don’t have to sacrifice anything in this race. You want an outsider, you want a fighter? Great. I’ve done that. And I’ve beaten MAGA Republicans, and I know how to build real power. I know how to build coalitions, to actually move policy on healthcare, civil rights, voting rights, affordability. I’ve done it. And once people meet me, they’re in.
Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on X @tsspangler
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Mallory McMorrow Q&A: Voters ‘waiting to tune in’ to US Senate race
Reporting by Todd Spangler, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Todd Spangler, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
