Democratic Party Will Take Radical Turn After Michigan Election, Political Insiders Say
As a progressive socialist-backed candidate faces a moderate Democrat in Tuesday’s primary race for the U.S. Senate seat in Michigan, the outcome could provide insights into the future of the Democratic Party.
Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive candidate endorsed by the far left wing of the Democratic Party, is facing off against centrist and pro-Israel Rep. Haley Stevens for the Democratic nomination.
The outcome of the race, measured in how much support each candidate’s platform could receive from their voters, could decide what direction the party heads in the future.
Recent polling has indicated that El-Sayed, who was once shown neck and neck with Stevens, is now surging in popularity after last week’s debate.
Anti-Israel Party?
Steve Cortes, the founder of the League of American Workers and has done extensive polling in the state on behalf of his organization, told the Daily Signal that El-Sayed, who has been seen gaining momentum among voters, “proves that moderates are not welcome in the Democratic Party in 2026. These are not your parents’ or grandparents’ Democrats.”
“Abdul is a terrorist sympathizer who personifies the extremist move within the Democrat Party toward a toxic union of Islamism and Marxism,” Cortes continued. “That radical alliance is also represented by officials like Ilhan Omar and Zohran Mamdani.”
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Earlier this year, the Washington Free Beacon released footage of El-Sayed’s internal communications with his campaign staffers telling them that he would not comment on the death of the former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei because it could “upset” some voters.
Similarly, Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., an outspoken member of the Congressional Sharia Free America Caucus and the House Freedom Caucus, described El-Sayed as a “jihadist,” “communist,” and “Muslim terrorist,” who has a chance of winning the Democratic primary.
“The Dem party is a Jew hating lunatic party that has lost its way,” Fine continued, adding that El-Sayed might win the primary.
However, Fine remained optimistic about the November general election, where the progressive candidate could face off against Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., which could signal the unwillingness of moderate democrats to throw their support behind a certain ideological wing of the party.
“I don’t think Michiganders are going to vote for a Muslim terrorist to be their senator,” Fine stated.
Some Democratic legislators hold a similar view. On social media, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., questioned El-Sayed’s views on cutting the foreign aid the United States sends to Israel, after the candidate repeatedly said the United States should spend money at home instead of abroad.
“If Michiganders don’t want their tax dollars sent abroad, will El-Sayed also be ok with cutting off critical American military and humanitarian support for Ukraine, Taiwan, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Kenya, etc.?,” Gottheimer wrote. “Or is this just about Israel?”
Previously, El-Sayed also refused to answer whether Israel should be a Jewish state.
Democratic Socialist Label
El-Sayed has denied being a socialist; however, he campaigns with socialist candidates and is endorsed by various Democratic Socialists of America candidates and chapters. He has also been campaigning on a platform that seems to mirror much of that of the Democratic Socialist of America, such as Medicare for all, abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement and ending the Israeli-American military alliance.
This label has instilled fear among many congressional Democrats and political insiders, who are looking to rebuke the self-proclaimed Democratic socialist from their party.
“Although El-Sayed can win a Democrat primary, his brand of far Left anti-Americanism will not carry a common-sense, moderate battleground state like Michigan,” Cortes added.
On Fox News over the weekend, Gottheimer argued that they are socialists who are trying to take over the Democratic Party, which is “unacceptable” to him.
“They’re trying to use the Democratic Party as a vessel for their ideas,” the congressman said. “Literally, they’re supporting the Communist Manifesto and Trotsky, they’re Anti-American, they’re Anti-Cop, they don’t believe in borders.”
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., has called self-proclaimed socialist candidates part of the “dirtbag left.”
Platforming Disgraced Men?
If El-Sayed were to triumph on Tuesday, the outcome could outrage Democrats who have stirred concerns over the candidate for campaigning alongside controversial figures like former Maine Democratic Senate Candidate Graham Platner and Turkish-heritage online streamer Hasan Piker, who once said the U.S. “deserved 9/11” and called for the murder of Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla.
Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Mich., in a CNN interview, said that El-Sayed chose “to campaign with Hasan Piker, who said America deserved Sept. 11. Sure, he went on to disavow those comments, but I’m telling you, nobody on my team would ever, you know, come even close to making a comment like that.”
The congresswoman then added that El-Sayed and former Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner, who had an alleged Nazi tattoo and was repeatedly accused of rape while under the influence of alcohol, “campaigned together.”
Scholten then sounded the alarm on the direction her party is headed by providing a platform to men like El-Sayed and Platner.
“I think that condoning behavior like this from candidates like Abdul El-Sayed is taking us in a direction that we don’t want to go as a party,” Scholten said. “I don’t need $20 million to study why young men stopped voting for the Democratic Party.”
In a different CNN interview, Scholten even accused the progressive of having made “deeply sexist attacks” against his political opponent, adding that “there is a uniquely sexist bent to the things that he has said about women.”
The Democratic congresswoman’s refusal to back such a candidate further marks the divide between the two wings of the party.
El-Sayed did not respond to the Daily Signal’s request for comment.
Top Michigan Dems Back Stevens
During her time in Congress, Stevens has voted consistently with the Democratic Party, earning only a 5% score on the Heritage Foundation’s legislative scorecard.
According to the Heritage scorecard, her record is only consistent with 10% of House Democrats.
In the 118th Congress, Stevens voted against the SAVE America Act, a key voter integrity legislation championed by President Donald Trump, against legislation to prohibit the Federal Reserve from creating a centralized digital currency, and against legislation to include a citizenship in the upcoming U.S. Census Bureau.
In the 119th, she introduced articles of impeachment against Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy.
On the campaign trail, Stevens was attacked by El-Sayed for taking in money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC for short, and “big utility” companies such as DTE Energy or Consumers Energy.
Despite the controversy surrounding her campaign funding and Democratic-aligned voting record, her partisan colleagues, such as Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel, former Senator Debbie Stabenow, and Senator Gary Peters, have backed her in the race.
Her former primary opponent, state Sen. Haley Stevens, who also took money from AIPAC and shares similar policies, refused to endorse in the race but said she trusts voters to make the right choice.
If she were to win, her partisan politics and support from longtime Democratic politicians could signal the continuation of the party’s status quo.
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