Michigan Democrats’ U.S. Senate primary just got a lot less crowded. According to a Detroit News report [1], Democratic State Sen. Mallory McMorrow suspended her campaign over the weekend after months of struggling to gain traction. That leaves voters with two very different – but still very left-wing – choices: Rep. Haley Stevens, who has the backing of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Muslim Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive who has repeatedly faced criticism over comments and positions that opponents have labeled antisemitic and aligned with democratic socialist policies.
McMorrow’s exit wasn’t exactly a surprise, but most expected her to wait until after Tuesday’s debate before pulling the plug.
According to Mitchell Research and Quantus Insights, two polling firms that performed well in the 2024 election cycle, McMorrow had fallen into single digits with no realistic path to the nomination.
Both surveys found El-Sayed leading Stevens, with McMorrow far behind. Mitchell’s June 11-13 survey showed her at just 6%, while a June 29-30 Quantus poll put her at 7.5%.
Mitchell’s poll showed El-Sayed at 42%, Stevens at 33%, and McMorrow at 6%. Quantus produced nearly identical results, finding El-Sayed at 41%, Stevens at 35.6%, and McMorrow at 7.5%.
With McMorrow out, Democrats now face a choice between a Schumer-backed establishment candidate (she is also endorsed by AG Dana Nessel and U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell) and a Democratic socialist-aligned radical whose progressive platform has energized the party’s activist base. Republicans, meanwhile, are likely happy to sit back and watch Democrats decide just how far left they want to go.
A recent statement from the Michigan GOP says the following: “Michigan’s Senate Democrat primary has shifted from a three-car pileup to a head-on collision.” They also said that the two remaining Marxist radicals will be racing to outpace each other to the extreme left.
Abdul El-Sayed’s campaign has energized the party’s progressive wing – but the truth is that both candidates will unapologetically and consistently vote with whatever the Democrat party wants whether it has to do with abortion rights, gun control, climate change, trans support, federal spending or anything else.
Tuesday’s debate should make one thing clear: the real contest isn’t who can move to the middle – it’s who can persuade Democratic primary voters that they are the race’s most radical progressive.