A tight primary race between the three Democrat candidates for Michigan’s Senate seat is showcasing the different extremes of the Democratic Party.
According to polls, voters are currently divided among a center-left congresswoman who is backed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, a physician who appears to be sympathetic towards Islamic radicals, and a current state senator who has been accused by her colleague of “grooming” children while adopting popular Democratic stances.
Downplaying Islamic Terrorism?
Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive candidate backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has recently attracted attention for his public statements linking the recent string of terrorist attacks perpetrated by alleged Islamic radicals to Israel’s war campaign.
After Lebanese-born Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, who became a naturalized a U.S. Citizen in 2016, drove his car into Temple Israel Synagogue on March 12, El-Sayed released a statement condemning the violence while also claiming the attacker possibly acted in retaliation to Israel’s military campaign.
“A week earlier, an airstrike killed his niece and nephew. Imagine if that had never happened. Imagine there was no war in Iran. Imagine if there were no airstrikes in Lebanon. Imagine if his family had never died,” El-Sayed said. “We can and must condemn the attack on Temple Israel, and we can and must condemn the violence 6,000 miles away.”
Days after El-Sayed released the statement, the candidate told his staff that the statement he put out condemning the attack was a “risk.”
His spokesperson, Roxie Richner, claimed that the “nuanced statement” was met with “bad-faith critiques,” but the candidate has sought to double down on his controversial rhetoric.
A week after his video statement condemning the assailant, who federal agents confirmed was motivated by Hezbollah, a leaked audio of a call between El-Sayed and his campaign team appeared to show him refusing to make a statement on the death of Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei because “a lot of people in Dearborn are sad.”
“I also want to remind you guys that there are a lot of people in Dearborn who are sad today,” El-Sayed told his campaign team. “So, like, I just don’t want to comment on Khamenei at all. Like, I don’t think it’s worth even touching that.”
An Emerson poll found that El-Sayed has 16% of the Democratic voters’ support, while 38% remain undecided, and a combined 39% of Democratic voters are split between his two primary opponents.
Could Stevens’ AIPAC Affiliation Cost Her the Race?
Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., has also entered the primary to replace outgoing Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich.
Stevens, who has allegedly received millions of dollars from AIPAC in the past, has recently been the subject of protests from left-wing social justice organizations such as CODEPINK over her ties to the lobbying group.
“We tried to go up to Haley Stevens’ office to talk to her about the genocide and our objection to her receiving $5 million from AIPAC since 2019,” the Detroit local coordinator for CODEPINK said in November of 2025.
AIPAC has recently come under scrutiny by Democratic voters and candidates. Data suggests that since Oct. 7, sympathy for Israel among the Democratic Party’s voters has dropped to 12%.
Stevens currently leads El-Sayed by 1% in the polls. But both El-Sayed and Stevens trail Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow.
Accused of ‘Grooming’ Children and Genocide Flip Flop?
McMorrow, who was first elected to public office in 2018, is a rising star in Democrat politics. She was provided a prominent speaking slot at the 2024 Democrat National Convention.
McMorrow first gained national acclaim in 2022 when she delivered a five-minute speech in which she defended herself against a Republican colleague’s accusations that she was a “liberal social media troll” who wanted to “groom and sexualize kindergartners.” The speech went viral and gained over 10 million views online.
“[I am a] straight, white, Christian, married, suburban mom,” McMorrow said during her speech, before slamming state Sen. Lana Theis’ accusations as a “hateful scheme.”
The candidate raised over $1 million shortly after her speech.
Additionally, McMorrow, the author of “Hate Won’t Win: Find Your Power and Leave This Place Better Than You Found It,” was caught on video telling supporters in December that she “would not be able to control herself” if she ever met Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
“I’m a Notre Dame grad and [U.S. Supreme Court Justice] Amy Coney Barrett coming out of my university makes me furious on a personal level,” McMorrow said. “I talked to somebody yesterday who said they saw her with [U.S. Supreme Court Justice] Brett Kavanaugh at a tailgate last weekend. I was like I would not be able to control myself. There would be beers thrown in people’s faces.”
McMorrow leads Stevens by 5%, and El-Sayed by 6%.