Progressive candidates claimed key victories in Michigan’s Tuesday, Aug. 4 primary election that fired up the left flank of the Democratic Party and surfaced ideological divides within the party’s coalition.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, made a slew of endorsements for the 2026 cycle one decade after winning Michigan in the state’s 2016 presidential primary. Democratic Socialists of America chapters throughout the state also endorsed candidates who share the organization’s ideological commitments to guaranteed universal health care, halting U.S. military support for Israel and combating the influence of corporate interests in American politics.
Republicans have cast the Democratic ticket this fall as radical as Democrats argue GOP politicians have embraced an agenda under President Donald Trump that has hurt Michigan.
Here’s a look at how these candidates fared in the battleground state:
Progressives notch big win in Democratic U.S. Senate primary
Former Detroit and Wayne County health director Abdul El-Sayed won his U.S. Senate primary against U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Birmingham, a moderate. El-Sayed will face Republican former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers of White Lake, who has the backing of Trump.
El-Sayed had Sanders’ endorsement, along with U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s, D-New York. Those two nationally-known Democratic Socialists described El-Sayed’s primary against Stevens as a referendum on campaign funding, noting the massive amount of outside money that had poured into the race to benefit Stevens.
El-Sayed does not call himself a Democratic Socialist but many of his views overlap with the organization. For instance, he supports Medicare for All and has railed against U.S. spending in support of Israel, arguing that the money would be better spent tackling Americans’ most pressing challenges.
He carried about 49% of the vote to Stevens’ 48%, according to results compiled by the Associated Press.
Two key wins for the left in congressional races
Michigan’s 1st Congressional District: Lawyer Callie Barr defeated Iron Mountain Democrat Kyle Bloomquist – who had the support of the Democratic Socialists of America’s Northwest Michigan chapter – and industrial designer Wayne Stiles. Barr secured 58% of the vote, according to the Associated Press. The district is represented by U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet, who is running for re-election. The district is solidly Republican.
Michigan’s 7th Congressional District: Lansing community organizer William Lawrence won his primary with Sanders’ backing in the race against former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink and Matt Maasdam, a military aide to former President Barack Obama. Lawrence won 44% of the vote while Brink carried 29% and Maasdam secured 28%, according to the Associated Press. The district is currently held by U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Charlotte, who is seeking re-election. The district is one of the most competitive congressional battlegrounds in the U.S. Lawrence also had El-Sayed’s support in the race.
Michigan’s 13th Congressional District: State Rep. Donavan McKinney, D-Detroit, defeated U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Detroit. McKinney had Sanders’ endorsement in the race. He also had the backing of Metro Detroit’s Democratic Socialists of America chapter. (Thanedar once affiliated himself with the Democratic Socialists of America but relinquished his membership, saying the group didn’t sufficiently condemn Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack in Israel.) The winner of the Democratic primary is all but guaranteed to win in November in the solidly blue district. McKinney won 52% of the vote, while Thanedar carried 48%, according to the Associated Press.
Democratic incumbent knocked by DSA-backed challenger
Michigan Senate District 1: Former state Rep. Abraham Aiyash didn’t have Sanders or DSA backing but he campaigned with those who did and his campaign literature featured photos of him alongside prominent Democratic Socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Aiyash lost to Detroit’s Director of Small Business Affairs, Justin Onwenu, according to unofficial election results compiled by Wayne County. Aiyash carried 41% of the vote to Onwenu’s 58%, according to the tally.
Michigan Senate District 2: Pro-Palestinian organizer Abbas Alawieh defeated state Rep. Erin Byrnes, D-Dearborn, according to unofficial results compiled by The New York Times. Alawieh had Sanders’ endorsement in the race. Alawieh secured 59% of the vote to Byrnes’ 41%, according to the unofficial results from Wayne County.
Michigan Senate District 3: Sanders’ backed Eboni Taylor came in third in a crowded 11-candidate field for an open race for Michigan Senate. John Conyers III won the race with 24% of the vote, according to Wayne County’s unofficial tally.
Michigan House of Representatives District 8: With backing from Metro Detroit’s Democratic Socialists of America chapter, Chris Gilmer-Hill unseated incumbent state Rep. Helena Scott. Gilmer-Hill has focused his campaign, in part, on a promise to “Take on DTE” and he has blasted Scott for campaign contributions she has received from DTE’s PAC. While he lost the Democratic primary to Scott in 2024, he won about 49% of the vote to her 43%, according to unofficial results from Wayne and Oakland counties.
Michigan House of Representatives District 74: TyJuan Thirdgill, who had the backing of the Greater Lansing Democratic Socialists of America chapter, lost his primary to Harold Pope, the former president of the NAACP Lansing Branch. Pope received 47% of the vote while Thirdgill won 29% and Democrat Aaron Iturralde won 25%, according to unofficial results from Ingham County.
A look at Ann Arbor
In Ann Arbor, voters elected former state Rep. Yousef Rabhi as the city’s mayor, according to unofficial election results from Washtenaw County. In his race, he had Sanders’ support and an endorsement from Huron Valley DSA. He beat incumbent Christopher Taylor in the city with a national reputation as a liberal hub.
But DSA-backed Ann Arbor City Council candidate Dave Zeglen lost his primary race to Aidan Sova, who serves as president of the Ann Arbor District Library Board.
Contact Clara Hendrickson at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Which Michigan primaries did progressive candidates win?
Reporting by Clara Hendrickson, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Clara Hendrickson, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
