Abdul El-Sayed Answers: Can the Left Win in the Midwest? Yes.

Michigan Democratic Senate Primary Features Contrasting Approaches on Spending and Policy

On Tuesday, Abdul El-Sayed and Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., will compete in the Michigan Democratic Senate primary. The contest serves as one indicator of whether candidates associated with progressive positions can prevail in statewide races in competitive states.

Outside groups have spent more than $50 million in the race, with roughly $30 million from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and affiliated organizations directed toward Stevens. That amount represents the largest single-race expenditure by those groups to date, according to The Associated Press. El-Sayed, a former public health director, has stated that the volume of spending affects the closeness of the contest. “It’s just anti-democratic on its own terms,” he said. “I always ask people, ‘OK, you’re covering this as a very close race, but would it be close if they didn’t have $60 million to spend? Would it even be a close race at all?’”

El-Sayed has reported raising $12.2 million, primarily from individual donors. The Intercept Briefing podcast examined whether candidates aligned with progressive positions can succeed beyond heavily Democratic urban areas. El-Sayed argued that emphasizing specific policy priorities such as expanded healthcare access, public school funding, and limits on certain infrastructure projects can appeal to voters. “Look, you have an option that’s not bought off by all the same corporations,” he said. “And that option is desperately clear about wanting you to have healthcare, and also wanting your kid to have a good school, and also making sure that there’s not a data center that gets planted in your backyard to automate your job away.”

The program also featured Wisconsin state Rep. Ryan Clancy, a founding member of the state legislature’s Socialist Caucus, and radio host Thom Hartmann. Clancy described conversations with voters in Milwaukee who seek candidates willing to pursue changes to economic conditions. “People want people in office who are going to fight for the middle class, fight for actual transformative change,” he said. He added that matching Republican positions is not required to compete in districts divided between the two parties.

Polling in the Democratic primary has shown El-Sayed with a lead over Stevens. General-election surveys pitting El-Sayed against Republican nominee Mike Rogers, who has received support from former President Donald Trump, have produced narrower margins. One survey indicated Rogers ahead by 10 percentage points; other available polls have shown smaller differences.

Hartmann placed the current debate in the context of economic trends since the 1950s, noting changes in union membership, college affordability, and housing costs. He observed that policies once considered standard, such as nonprofit requirements for certain insurers and hospitals in Michigan, now face different characterizations. “I’m not sure if we’re there yet to the point where a good message like El-Sayed’s message can overcome millions of dollars from Israel and from big corporations,” he said. “That’s going to be the big challenge.”

The Intercept invited Stevens to participate but had not received a response by publication time.

The discussion opened with questions about why some observers question the viability of progressive candidates in Midwestern states. Clancy attributed part of the skepticism to concerns over Republican control in Wisconsin for the past 16 years and a desire to avoid further losses. He noted that resistance to left-leaning candidates also stems from moderate Democrats who prefer different policy directions.

Hartmann distinguished between current progressive proposals and historical definitions of the political left, pointing to expansions of Social Security and union coverage under President Dwight Eisenhower. He described shifts in the share of the population meeting middle-class benchmarks, citing data that roughly 65 percent of Americans met certain income, housing, and education criteria when union membership stood near one-third of the workforce in 1981, compared with lower figures in later decades.

Clancy linked renewed interest in certain policies to changes in homeownership age, which has risen to an average of 41, and to broader economic pressures. Hartmann referenced the Wagner Act of 1935 and its role in union growth under President Franklin Roosevelt, when the middle class expanded from about 20 percent to more than half of the population.

The conversation addressed terminology used in coverage of Democratic candidates. Lacy noted that labels such as “centrist” or “moderate” can shift depending on the period examined. Clancy pointed to missed opportunities during periods of Democratic legislative control in Wisconsin, including the failure to codify abortion rights or raise the minimum wage above $7.25, with a sub-minimum of $2.33 for tipped workers. Hartmann emphasized the long-term effects of policy choices since the 1980s on single-paycheck households and retirement security.

The program concluded by directing listeners to the full episode on major podcast platforms. Additional details on candidate platforms, spending disclosures, and polling methodology are available through official campaign filings and public survey releases.