A new Michigan poll suggests former Wayne County and Detroit health director Abdul El-Sayed has the lead in the race to be the Democratic nominee for the state’s soon-to-be-open U.S. Senate seat.
In a poll released Monday, May 11, by Steve Mitchell of Mitchell Research & Communication in East Lansing, El-Sayed, of Ann Arbor, got 28% of the support from the likely Democratic primary voters who were surveyed.
If accurate, that gives El-Sayed a notable advantage with 18% support for U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham and 17% for state Sen. Mallory McMorrow of Royal Oak. Thirty-eight percent were undecided. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.
Mitchell, who did the poll for MIRS, the Michigan Information & Research Service in Lansing, surveyed 405 likely voters in the Aug. 4 Democratic primary between May 1-7. According to the poll, likely voters were selected by random and then directed to a SurveyMonkey polling site to respond.
Recent polls have shown a surge of support for El-Sayed, of Ann Arbor, who is widely viewed as the most progressive candidate in the race to succeed U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, who is stepping down after this term, while they have been less clear as to Stevens’ and McMorrow’s positions in the race, with either leading El-Sayed in some other surveys.
The polling comes in the wake of El-Sayed campaigning in Michigan with progressive icon and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and rallies he held this spring at Michigan State University and the University of Michigan with internet influencer Hasan Piker. Piker has been criticized by some for remarks deemed antisemitic though he has denied that charge, saying it is being leveled at him because he has criticized Israel and its treatment of Palestinians.
The winner of the Democratic primary is expected to face former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers of White Lake, who is considered the clear favorite to win the Republican nomination. and has the endorsement of President Donald Trump.
Another new poll released Tuesday, May 12, indicated that Rogers appears to be slightly leading or tied with the Democrats in hypothetical head-to-head general elections matchups, with the Republican leading El-Sayed 44.7%-39.8%, Stevens 43.8%-41.5% and McMorrow 42.8%-40.7% among likely voters. For the poll, which was commissioned by the Detroit Regional Chamber and done by the Glengariff Group of Lansing, 600 likely November voters were surveyed by live operators; the poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on X @tsspangler.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: New poll shows surging El-Sayed leading Senate nomination race
Reporting by Todd Spangler, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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