Voters head to the polls Tuesday in Michigan in key primary races for governor, senator and the House races that may determine control of Congress.
US-Israel relationship at center of Senate race
The marquee race on the ballot is the Democratic primary for the state’s open Senate seat.
With the retirement of incumbent Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, the race to replace him has become a proxy fight for the future of the Democratic Party with an expensive fight between progressive public heath official Dr. Abdul El-Sayed and moderate Rep. Haley Stevens. Either would face off against former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, who lost his 2024 Senate run against Elissa Slotkin by fewer than 20,000 votes.
The race has been animated by the intraparty debate over the U.S. relationship with Israel, an especially salient issue in a state with significant Jewish and Arab-American populations.
El-Sayed has attacked Stevens for her support of continued weapons sales to Israel and major spending to support her by pro-Israel groups such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Stevens maintains that she supports a peaceful two-state solution.
Stevens has criticized El-Sayed as being what she characterizes as insufficiently forceful in condemning an antisemitic attack on a Michigan synagogue and Jewish preschool earlier this year after El-Sayed, in a statement, noted that the attacker had family killed in Israeli air strikes and he said “hurt people hurt people.” El-Sayed stood by his comments.
The race to replace Whitmer
In the governor’s race, Michigan’s secretary of state, Jocelyn Benson, seems poised to clench the Democratic nomination over Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson. Benson built a national profile for her work in the 2020 election, defending the state against President Donald Trump’s unfounded claims of election fraud.
On the Republican side, Rep. John James is hopeful that the president’s endorsement will boost him to victory over businessman and former presidential candidate Perry Johnson. If James wins in November, he would make history as the country’s first-ever elected Black Republican governor.
The candidates are running to replace Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, who is term-limited.
Critical House races
With redistricting limiting the number of competitive districts nationwide, Michigan’s House races will be more important than ever.
Michigan’s 7th Congressional District is one of just three districts in the country that has voted for the eventual presidential winner in the last five elections. Freshman Republican Rep. Tom Barrett rode Trump’s margin in the state to victory in 2024, but now faces a tough battle for reelection in a race Cook Political Report ranks as a toss-up.
Three democrats are vying to take him on in that race: progressive activist and Democratic Socialists of America member William Lawrence, former Obama military aide Matt Maasdam and former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink. Democratic Party leaders have expressed concerns that Lawrence’s DSA affiliation and progressive policy positions could cost them a critical seat. Lawrence addressed the criticism, arguing that progressive politics can win even in tough districts.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, who held this seat in Congress, has backed Maasdam.
In the neighboring 8th District, Democratic Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet was able to buck the statewide trend, winning her district on the same ballot that voted for Trump. She faces a strong challenger in Navy veteran and former Guantanamo Bay prison guard Amir Hassan, who has Trump’s backing and could bring some diversity to a Republican House caucus set to lose all of its Black members.
In deep-blue Detroit, Democrats could see yet another incumbent fall to a DSA-backed challenger as Rep. Shri Thanedar faces a strong challenge from progressive state Rep. Donovan McKinney. So far this year, five Democratic incumbents have lost their primaries, three of them to DSA-backed challengers.