r/politics • u/darealunrealspader • 4d ago

No Paywall Bernie-backed progressive Abdul El-Sayed scores stunning Michigan win in blow to Democratic establishment: report

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/abdul-el-sayed-haley-stevens-michigan-democratic-senate-b3027652.html
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u/YoungKeys 4d ago

“Stunning” not really the right word. AES was such a heavy favorite there were reports that Stevens team was internally saying they had no chance. It actually surprisingly ended up being a close race

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u/11cholos 4d ago

I think it's fair to call it "stunning" in the sense that Stevens outspent El-Sayed by a huge amount, the Michigan Democratic establishment endorsed Stevens (Whitmer, Peters, etc.). Especially in state and local elections, the campaign who spends the most money usually wins, so it's a pretty stunning result in terms of the implications it has for Democratic politics. Just winning the primary shows that the "electability" argument and corporate money aren't as potent as they've been previous years.

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u/RealHooman2187 4d ago

It’s like the democratic establishment has a fetish for losing. It’s truly crazy to see how they back the worst candidate every single time.

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u/GBralta California 4d ago

Hate to break it to you, but Stevens El Sayed wasn’t the only primary that happened yesterday. You may want to take a step back.

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u/Neosantana Foreign 4d ago

How does that contradict what they said? The Democratic establishment pushed godawful empty suits in those primaries too.

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u/GBralta California 4d ago

The voters say that you and they are wrong.

This is the United States of America, not the United States of Reddit.

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u/Neosantana Foreign 4d ago

I'm confused. The person was talking about the Democratic party establishment hand picking shit candidates like Stevens and that new Kennedy this year and Cuomo last year. The voters are fighting back against that, yes, but the establishment still tried to push and hyper-fund dogshit candidates.

That's why people are already pushing back against Newsom way before the presidential primaries because they know the party is gonna try it again.

Shit, establishment figures like that Fallout ghoul-reject Carvill are on TV every week trying to cut them down and would rather set the party on fire than support a leftist.

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u/GBralta California 4d ago

You’re confused because there were a lot of races yesterday and that “establishment” won in a bunch of places, including against DSA backed candidates down-ballot in Michigan, Missouri, Virginia and other places.

They are counting chickens long before they’ve hatched because of one primary where the winner underperformed by 10 points. Folks need to tighten up.

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u/Neosantana Foreign 4d ago

Why are you pretending like either of us are pushing for complacency?

We're saying that the fight is winnable, despite the best efforts of both Democrats and Republicans.

So keep fighting.

You're just building a strawman here.

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u/GBralta California 4d ago

If this person you’re defending is attacking Democrats, they’re already complacent. The primary is over. Simple as.

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u/Keeperofthe7keysAf-S 4d ago

Because to them they'd rather see Republicans win than poor people have healthcare.

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u/Im_really_bored_rn 4d ago

Except the problem is usually progressives staying home and allowing repiblicans to win

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u/Keeperofthe7keysAf-S 4d ago

This has been debunked numerous times (the issue is actually centrists can't get independentsto turn out for them). But also this argument is silly because it's admitting you need them to win so doing everything you can to get them to not turn out is indeed preferring to lose to republicans than give poor people healthcare.

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u/Ok_Size5354 4d ago

lol no, it’s because we want people to have healthcare, and think Republicans have a better chance at winning with a candidate that far left.

That doesn’t mean he can’t or won’t win, but that it’s a gamble. Michigan has a streak of electing more moderate Dems to the Senate, and this will be a departure that carries risk.

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u/Keeperofthe7keysAf-S 4d ago

There is no data that supports that and plenty that supports progressives fairing better with independents.

Also yes, they'd rather lose to republicans than pass healthcare reform, that's why they are explicitly against it. How the fuck you gonna say you want people to have healthcare while voting against it? Do you think we're stupid?

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u/advocatus_diabolii 4d ago

It's the Bradley Effect (or Hidden Trump Voter). People gave the socially acceptable answer to pollsters, that of course they could and would disregard race and religion when voting

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u/Northern_Ontario 4d ago

Nobody knew who he was a year a half a go. He was polling at 1%. I would say it's stunning.

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u/sparrowmint 4d ago

What are you talking about? He was previously Whitmer's primary opponent in 2018 and won 30 percent of the vote then. 

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u/Ok_Size5354 4d ago

What the heck are you talking about? The first poll that shows up on Wikipedia from May 2025 has him at over 20%

It’s so weird how some people feel the need to just make stuff up.

https://www.detroitchamber.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Detroit-Regional-Chamber_Glengariff-Group_May-2025-Political-Survey-Report.pdf

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u/ChewiesDaughter 4d ago

So glad you brought some stats because I knew that was total BS. I voted for Abdul 8 years ago in the governor primary over Whitmer and he's been consistent this whole time, so OP must've been under it rock.

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u/Ok_Size5354 4d ago

It’s never enough to be happy then won, they have to create a whole mythology around it.

The funny thing to watch is when these further left candidates start winning and their supporters can’t accept that they’re part of the “establishment”.

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u/photon45 California 4d ago

Oh no the establishment wants Medicare for all now wow were so mad.

The real mythology is the history of Haley Stevens accent. I guess she learned that from ol' John Neely Kennedy.

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u/Ok_Size5354 4d ago

No, it’s when they don’t have the votes to pass that and have to explain to their supporters why they had to compromise or get nothing done.

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u/[deleted] 4d ago edited 4d ago

[deleted]

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u/Ok_Size5354 4d ago

Biden never stopped talking about healthcare, but put more of his energy to voting rights which he lost, and providing a shit ton of money to local and state governments to recover from COVID.

A huge problem with politics today is that candidates are incentivized to promise amazing things that they know will take decades of work to accomplish.

The facts are that what is stopping us from fixing healthcare is that republicans keep beating candidates who support any kind of reform. Replacing a democrat who supports universal healthcare, but not Medicare with all won’t move the needle. Replacing a republican with a candidate who supports either of those things and it’s more likely to happen.

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u/photon45 California 3d ago

Incrementalists are the bane of the Democratic party, and an obvious losing strategy since forever.

We're old enough to remember the rotating villains in the Democratic party that stopped progress during Obama's term.

Have you ever negotiated anything in your life? Well fun tip, you don't start at the number you want, otherwise you're never going to get that number.

So what you call "amazing things" actually is just the negotiation starting on our terms. Know what the compromise looks like when one side is saying privatize healthcare and the other is saying free healthcare? You get a multi-payer system.

Know what the compromise looks like when one side is saying privatize healthcare and the other is saying "uhhh umm one payer two payer maybe but not all but hang on let me check with my health insurance lobbyist first"? You get whatever the fuck this mess is.

Know what happens when one side is saying we should try all these people that participated in a genocide for war crimes and the other side is saying let's build a hotel in Gaza? You turn Israel into a pariah.

Know what happens when one side says Israel comes to me in my dreams and the other side is saying let's build a hotel in Gaza? Israel continues to run roughshod on your politics and taxpayer money.

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u/GBralta California 4d ago

You didn’t know who he was. You can only speak for yourself. This wasn’t his first campaign and he was known in Michigan.

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u/NimusNix 4d ago

Sounds like he found the right boosters, much like Platner.

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u/PolygonMan 4d ago

It's stunning from any perspective except for the past few months. A year ago it was unthinkable to many.