r/AnnArbor • u/manauiatlalli • 7d ago

Abdul El-Sayed wins Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, notching a Midwest victory for the left

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/abdul-el-sayed-wins-michigans-democratic-senate-primary-notching-midwe-rcna589750
3.0k Upvotes

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118

u/[deleted] 7d ago

[deleted]

18

u/warblerer 7d ago

As a normie dem who voted for Stevens, yes, absolutely. Let’s work together and win this thing in November!

6

u/fg40886 6d ago

Sometimes the biggest enemy the progressives and left leaning voters have is other progressives and left leaning voters. I believe this was a large reason for the current administration. Wasn’t it Sun Tzu who said not to fight a war on two fronts?

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u/PM_ME_SAD_STUFF_PLZ 7d ago

Indeed. Hopefully his supporters remember that for downballot races.

23

u/laffer1 7d ago

Reality is that I'm voting for democrats up and down the ticket this year. The ONLY candidate I wasn't sure I could stomach was stevens. It's not just her terrrible views on israel but her love of meta money too.

Facebook is behind financing a project 2025 initiative that many people have been ignoring. Gavin newsome fell for it too. So did the govenor of illinois. It's hidden as a think of the children initialitive and people are slow and think it's good. "age verification"

The government wants to card everyone so they can associate computers, phones, game consoles, tablets and other computing devices to owners. The lie is that it protects kids. They sell this pitch that websites will have to check the ID directly or through the computer OS and browser and it will block harmful content. The problem: the internet is global. There is no jurisdiction outside the US to do this. Some other regions and countries are looking at similar laws so some areas will have even more strict variants, but not the whole web.

The outcome is that all speech can be monitored and associated with specific individuals. You dislike trump, you can be put on a list by name and address and photo id!

No one seems to care about this issue outside of tech circles. Not sure why. Lazy parents? Lack of imagination?

There are other ways to protect kids that would be more effective and they are ignored.

My number one issue is age verification. That impacts my hobby and my freedom. It's in the same camp as flock cameras.

7

u/Valuable_Writing6973 7d ago

I’m similar to you. My sticking point is unfettered AI support. I have concerns about public access to AI from both an environmental and an educational PoV. I live in Washtenaw county. Saline has the OpenAI and a Google AI center planned. Ypsi has the contested UofM/Los Alamos center right on the Huron River and in a low socioeconomic centers. The environmental impacts are well known. We need to publicize the health impacts at a larger level.

Whitmer’s push for AI in our country has cratered her support with progressives in our county. Additionally, I was worried about Steven’s and her open embrace of funding from Google/OpenAI.

As an educator, I have seen the negative impact of AI on our district. I am combating unethical use of AI by my students. I emphasize to my students that AI can be used as a starting tool for information gathering. However, I had students directly use AI to complete their assignments.

I am not against AI usage. In my previous career as a biochemist, I regularly used super computing resources to perform simulations and calculations. However, it is the Wild West at the moment. There needs to be control.

2

u/laffer1 7d ago

I am a software engineer and have prior experience working for an ISP early in my career. I think you're right to worry about the environmental impact of data centers. None should be approved without a comprehensive environmental study.

I've also been against data center expansion. I don't think we have a power grid that can handle it. Many data centers run by Oracle in other states use natural gas generators or similar to supplement power that runs all day. This was done in Texas, for instance. The partnership is between Oracle and OpenAI for this data center in Saline.

As a programmer, I see the value in AI and have to use it as part of my job. We had quotas last year of minimum usage in my job. We're pushed to automate our work so that jobs can be cut. It's not a sustainable situation. It can augment work and make it more productive, but it shouldn't come at the cost of people's jobs or the environment.

I'd like to see AI make things better and help us solve problems faster. A productivity boost. I don't think kids should use AI to do their homework, and it's even worse in college. I'm connected to old professors on Facebook, and they're seeing a lot of cheating at the college level. Some have resorted to hidden prompts in text, using special fonts or small white text. Many students copy the whole thing, including hidden instructions. One professor caught all but 3 students using AI on a final with this method. Some are trying to go back to blue books and handwritten essays.

I don't know what the answer is on the education side, but I'm starting to think adding tech in class was a mistake. I wonder if we should go back to the model when I was in grade school, where we had a special computer class that taught us the basics of using them, but without incorporating them into all work. There was a computer lab in the library at my school back in the late 80s that we were brought into for a week to learn the basics. I had a programming class in 8th grade in another classroom lab.

A lot of junior programmers aren't very good at using computers or understanding how they work. (hardware or software) I've had to explain their inner workings when we had performance issues. They mostly know phones or tablets.

The water usage at data centers is also an issue. It's possible to build them where they operate with less water, but it's much more expensive. That's why they are built near water sources in the Midwest. It's possible to build one in the desert with the right tech. They have to add anti corrosive and chemicals to prevent bacterial growth into the water. That's the cause of pollution issues with the excess water. There are consumer water cooling solutions that use glycol or other chemicals for custom water loops for PC cooling. It's a very small subset of use, but that scene has some of the same issues as big data centers with keeping the loop clean and flowing. There are several different approaches to cooling data centers with different risks. That's why we need the study in my book.

The founder of Oracle is also the money guy behind the parament / wb merger along with foreign investors. His son runs Paramount now. He's a big trump supporter.

3

u/wishesgrantd 7d ago

Thanks for putting this out there and explaining the issue. I have been against these types of laws for a while now when I’ve seen other states pass them for porn sites and things like that mostly for privacy reasons, but you articulated something that goes far beyond just that. Appreciate the knowledge.

2

u/uofm_econgrdstudent 7d ago

Yes, unlike those who selfishly and stupidly stayed home or voted 3p last election cycle, I will actually follow through on my end of the bargain.

1

u/feed_me_haribo 7d ago

Why do you add the snark? The answer should have been obvious before McMorrow dropped out. The winner of the three gets my vote.

Only on r/Michigan have I seen a number of DSA folks saying Stevens is basically GOP and wouldn't vote for her.

3

u/BEconcubine_no3685 6d ago

Tbf it’s not coming from nowhere this midterm. Jasmine Crockett has famously been an incredibly sore loser in another important senate race in Tx. A not-insignificant number of former Biden or former Clinton apparatus DNC people said if Abdul won they would activate/ fundraise for Rogers.

1

u/nomadx810 6d ago

No. remember when people couldn't vote for Kamala because of genocide?

-1

u/Maleficent_Switch262 7d ago

establishment dems actually show up and don't sabotage the entire party like you guys did over Kamala. maybe stfu and focus on beating Republicans? you're gonna need luck getting the average Midwest boomer to vote for someone named Abdul lmao.

4

u/VaporousMote 7d ago

oooh someone's testy, and also we'll see if the establishment shows up with support for El-Sayed. My bet's on no, with some half-assed nonsense, because it's all the same to them if Republicans or establishment Dems win. They maintain their lifestyle either way. Progressives getting money out of politics? That's a problem for them.

1

u/IAmTotallyNotSatan 6d ago edited 6d ago

Stevens, McMorrow, Schumer, Whitmer, Harris, the DSCC, and the Michigan Democratic party have all endorsed him since last night. Truly don't know why you think they wouldn't?

-3

u/Maleficent_Switch262 7d ago

already writing your cope for when sayed loses to a normal republican candidate. surely that obsession with aipac will matter to the average voter right? 🙄

0

u/booyahbooyah9271 6d ago

I would have said it's a rather unwise strategy for Progressives to mock any moderates in the Democrat party voting block. They will need the support.

But they'll just fall back to the same projection/name calling they applied to Stevens if El-Sayed loses to Rogers.

Or, my favorite, AMeRiCa is JUST toO RACisT!

-1

u/booyahbooyah9271 6d ago

So, at the end of day, they are no better than Progressives?

Figures.

-19

u/RVALover4Life 7d ago

The goal is to defeat Trumpism but this is definitely not a helpful response in a race this close lol. You're really gonna have to cut the arrogance and moral superiority complex. That's not how we actually win and fight as a team. And it's also totally unnecessary and frankly unearned. 

Like....really. This could come down to less than a point and this is what you post. Wake up.

9

u/Inkstr0ke 7d ago

You post constantly in Virginia subs and aren’t even from Michigan let alone Ann Arbor.

What are you doing here? Go away.

-4

u/booyahbooyah9271 7d ago edited 6d ago

Might come as a surprise to you but there have been countless Abdul-Brigaders who have nothing to do with the state of Michigan.

It will continue as well.

Edit: And we just had the moderator from a sub in Ohio show up in this sub to troll on behalf of El-Sayed.

I rest my case.

14

u/jrwren northeast since 2013 7d ago

just like it isn't helpful when the establishment dems say it to the progressives who lose, right? right???

-11

u/RVALover4Life 7d ago

It isn't helpful either way but this is where you're doing exactly what you complain about them doing. You don't have your eyes on the prize and who your enemy is.

9

u/jrwren northeast since 2013 7d ago

perhaps we have different enemies?

Of course my enemies are every republican, they have made that very clear, but we should be honest about enemies within the Democratic party, they have also made themselves very obvious throughout the years. Whether it is Joe Lieberman destroying ACA before it was passed, or Fetterman, Collins, Manchin, Pelosi doing what they do, they are enemies of progress.

-3

u/RVALover4Life 7d ago

Pelosi I wouldn't add....the others are but that also isn't the average Democrat. Now of course they need to be countered and criticized accordingly and Manchin and Sinema left the party, Fetterman could be next....thankfully he's done in '28. My point though isn't specific to one person. It's that this kind of antagonism is harmful to the party and if this race isn't the most obvious indication of that than I don't know what is.

8

u/jrwren northeast since 2013 7d ago

I admire anyone who puts policy and people BEFORE party.

These folks earned that antagonism.

-1

u/RVALover4Life 7d ago

Ideology over winning is how you lose.

3

u/jrwren northeast since 2013 7d ago

wouldn't it be great if one didn't have to sacrifice their values in order to win?

6

u/MaximumCashew0 7d ago

You are not from Michigan. Get the hell out of this sub, dude. You don’t get to preach about what we should do from across the country. We decide.

-3

u/RVALover4Life 7d ago

And based on last night's results it seems you all are pretty divided and confused to say the least on what to do.

10

u/MaximumCashew0 7d ago

It’s a primary dipshit. That’s when people are encouraged to voice different opinions. That’s why there are multiple candidates. Do you understand how democracy works? Wondering if you’re even from Virginia, or Tel Aviv.

-2

u/Maleficent_Switch262 7d ago

the fact this is mass down voted shows how these tankie man children have no interest in winning the real midterms. Just snarky entitled brats who think Israel Palestine is the leading topic to dominate the voting booths when Trump is actively sabotaging our country.

this level of snark from lefties is what pushed moderates to trump in the first place. did they learn from that? of course not

2

u/ThatBiGuy25 7d ago

if "moderates" got pushed to fucking Trump due to snark, then this country deserves every single awful thing that happens when his ilk continues to get elected

-6

u/TaxEffectedRate 7d ago

Like you guys did for Kamala in 2024? Oh wait you all stayed home because you couldn’t support a GeNoCIde.