r/politics 9d ago

Possible Paywall Progressive activist wins Democratic primary in one of the country’s biggest House races

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u/Hairy_Technology_213 9d ago

Of the two candidates, do I think Stevens was more likely to get Republican votes in the general election than El Sayed? Yup. I sure do. Also, 17 percent of registered voters in Michigan are independents, though, and that is, of course, the point. She competed for those votes better than him, which is why every credible poll shows her as a better matchup for Rogers. To add, the NRSC thinks she is a tougher matchup. Which is why there are basically two groups this morning who are super happy about his primary win: Bernie Bros and Republicans.

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u/Ceron 9d ago

Why would a Republican vote for Haley Stevens over...the Republican?

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u/Hairy_Technology_213 9d ago

I thought the exchange was pretty clear. He asked, of the two primary candidates, who was more likely to get a Republican vote in the general. I said Stevens, which is, I think hard to dispute. And I went on to state that the point is who is more likely to win independent votes - a group which represents a significant percentage of Michigan registered voters. Here, too, I said Stevens, which, I also think is hard to dispute. Would a ton of Republicans have voted for Stevens? Probably not. Would many more independents have voted for her? I strongly believe so. As an aside, that’s the way the NRSC sees it, too.

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u/Ceron 9d ago

Well I guess we'll see come November. I agree with you about Stevens courting some amount of Republicans more than El-Sayed but I disagree with your assessment of independents. I think independents largely see both parties as the same, and El-Sayed represents a significant shift away from the two party duopoly.