The high-stakes fight between the left-wing and the center-left establishment for the future of the Democratic Party took center stage Tuesday in battleground Michigan.That's where moderate Rep.Haley Stevens, who is backed by Senate Minority Leader Sen.
Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and the party establishment, faced off in a fiery Senate nomination debate against former Wayne County Health Department Director Abdul El-Sayed, a far-left candidate endorsed by progressive champions Sen.Bernie Sanders I-Vt., and Rep.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.The sharpest exchanges centered on campaign money, outside spending and U.S.policy toward Israel, with El-Sayed repeatedly accusing Stevens of benefiting from millions of dollars in outside spending from pro-Israel and corporate-aligned groups."If you want your politics dictated by AIPAC or Chuck Schumer, then I'm not your guy," El-Sayed said, arguing the Democratic Party would not change if it continued to elect leaders who take money from corporations.
Stevens countered by accusing El-Sayed of benefiting from Republican efforts to boost him in the primary."What my opponent needs to answer is, why is the GOP spending thousands of dollars to prop up his campaign, saying that he will make Mike Rogers the next U.S.
senator?" Stevens said.DEMOCRATIC SENATE CANDIDATE CALLED FOR MASS RELEASE OF CRIMINALS DURING PRISON ABOLITION WEBINARRep.Haley Stevens of Michigan, right, and former Wayne County Health Department Director Abdul El-Sayed are facing off in the August 4, 2026 Democratic Senate primary in the Great Lakes battleground state.
(Evan Cobb for The Washington Post via Getty Images; Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)The showdown came four weeks before Michigan's primary, with the winner taking on former Republican Rep.Mike Rogers, who is on a glide path to the GOP nomination, in the crucial midterm battle to succeed retiring Democratic Sen.
Gary Peters.The rare open Senate seat is a top Republican target and is ...