Michigan‘s Democratic Senate primary sharpened in a clash between the party’s progressive and establishment wings Tuesday night as former Wayne County Health Director Abdul El-Sayed accused Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) of being “bought off” by corporate interests while Stevens argued el Sayed is being “propped up” by Republican spending.
The debate, hosted by WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids, marked the first head-to-head matchup between the two remaining Democratic candidates after state Sen. Mallory McMorrow ended her campaign over the weekend, consolidating the race into a two-person contest to take on former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers in one of the nation’s most closely watched Senate races.
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While the candidates debated inflation, immigration, artificial intelligence, Social Security, childcare, and foreign policy, much of the evening centered on an increasingly familiar divide in the Democratic Party: whether Democrats should embrace an anti-establishment message focused on corporate influence, or campaign primarily on legislative accomplishments and opposition to President Donald Trump.
El Sayed, who has been endorsed by progressive figures including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), repeatedly accused Stevens of relying on corporate-backed outside groups and special interests, arguing voters should reject what he described as a political system influenced by wealthy donors.
“We also don’t need politicians bought off by corporations in this race,” el Sayed said early in the debate before returning throughout the night to criticism of outside spending and corporate political influence in Stevens’s campaign.
El Sayed also cited a trip to Portugal Stevens took with her mother that was paid for by Center Forward, a super PAC that has spent millions to run ads in Stevens’s favor.
“Our politics have been deeply and profoundly corrupted by corporate money, and I want to get money out,” el Sayed said. “We won’t talk about transparency. There’s a group called Center Forward that happened to pay for a flight for the congresswoman and her mother to Portugal. I want to understand what she promised them in return.”
The attacks echoed themes embraced by other candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America and the party’s left wing, with el Sayed arguing Democrats have become too closely aligned with corporate donors rather than working-class voters. He repeatedly promoted Medicare for All, taxing billionaires, free child care, and removing corporate money from politics as central priorities.
Stevens countered by arguing Republicans view el Sayed as the easier opponent for Trump-backed Rogers in the general election, repeatedly pointing to GOP spending that she said was intended to boost his candidacy.
“The GOP is spending thousands of dollars to prop up your campaign because they think they will make it easier for Mike Rogers to win if you are the nominee,” she said. “I do not plan to make anything easier for Republicans or Mike Rogers.”
Electability remained a central theme throughout the debate, with Stevens emphasizing she flipped a Republican-held House seat in 2018 and has continued winning competitive races while portraying herself as the Democrat best positioned to keep the Senate seat in Democratic hands.
She also touted her legislative record in Congress to counter el Sayed’s accusations that she has been swayed by corporate dollars. “No one owns my vote, and no one owns my policies,” Stevens said.
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Stevens also leaned heavily into a message increasingly used by establishment Democrats ahead of the midterm elections, arguing that stopping Trump and defeating Republicans should remain Democrats’ top priority. Rather than debating the party’s ideological direction, she frequently shifted back to Trump’s policies on tariffs, immigration, Social Security, and the economy while presenting herself as a proven lawmaker.
The Democratic primary will determine which competing vision for the party, el Sayed’s anti-establishment progressive message or Stevens’s emphasis on experience and defeating Trump, advances to face Rogers in one of the country’s marquee Senate races.
