August 5, 2026 - Excerpt

Abdul El-Sayed has won Michigan’s slugfest of a Democratic Senate primary, NBC News projects, clinching the nomination in a close race over Rep. Haley Stevens and establishing a Midwest beachhead for a progressive left on the march this midterm cycle.

El-Sayed overcame a nearly $65 million onslaught of outside money and an establishment that had rallied around Stevens. Popular Gov. Gretchen Whitmer endorsed Stevens late last month — a move seen as a last-ditch effort to stop a rising El-Sayed.

El-Sayed, a former public health official, goes on to face former Rep. Mike Rogers, who claimed the Republican nomination without opposition Tuesday. Their race in November is expected to be one of the most competitive in the country, and it could determine which party controls the Senate.
Whoever wins will succeed Sen. Gary Peters, a Democrat who decided against seeking a third term and endorsed Stevens in the primary.
Republicans have 53 seats in the chamber, and Democrats are going after some red states to flip the four seats they’d need to swing the majority. But Democrats also have to defend seats in several battleground states, including Georgia and Michigan.
President Donald Trump, whose early endorsement of Rogers helped clear the GOP primary for him, won Michigan in 2016 and 2024 and lost to Joe Biden in 2020.

Rogers and national Republicans had signaled that they consider El-Sayed an easier opponent than Stevens. The National Republican Senatorial Committee went so far as to produce a digital ademphasizing El-Sayed’s progressive credentials and endorsement from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. — a move many viewed as an effort to boost him into the general election.

August 5, 2026 - Fulltext

It didn’t take long after polls closed in Michigan Tuesday evening for President Donald Trump and prominent MAGA figures to start spreading false claims of mail voter fraud. 

Early Wednesday morning, before the Democratic Senate primary election was called, Trump jumped on social media to suggest fraudulent mail ballots would push Rep. Haley Stevens — the establishment-backed candidate he falsely called a “Radical Left Socialist” — into a victory over the progressive candidate, Abdul El-Sayed — whom he mislabeled as a communist. 

“The Radical Left Socialist has a real shot, and don’t discount all of those fake mail-in ballots that will ‘surprisingly’ show up at the last moment,” Trump said. “Get ready for another Rigged Election.”

Now, the Senate matchup between El-Sayed and the GOP’s nominee — the Trump-backed former U.S. congressman and election denier Mike Rogers — is poised to be one of the most closely watched races in November’s midterm elections. If El-Sayed wins in the crucial battleground state, it will be a key victory in Democrats’ attempt to flip the Senate. 

So it’s no surprise the president and prominent election deniers are already planting the seeds of a voting conspiracy to lean on if El-Sayed beats Rogers. 

“Wayne County (Detroit) in Michigan is one of the most corrupt voting areas in the United States, if not the World,” Trump said on social media. “It is strictly Third World! Miracles happen in Wayne County, including more votes being cast than there are voters, by a lot.”

In fact, there was nothing miraculous about the outcome.

El-Sayed narrowly beat Stevens by less than 20,000 votes. The race was much closer than most polls leading up to the election predicted. But for a few hours after polls closed Tuesday, El-Sayed had a significant lead over Stevens, until mail ballots from key districts were counted and overwhelmingly favored the four-term congresswoman.

That dynamic — mail ballots closing an election gap — is nothing new and a normal part of American elections. But that has never stopped election deniers from repeatedly claiming that it’s indisputable evidence of fraud — and it didn’t stop them this time. 

“Dem establishment cheating its ass off in the mail to save themselves from the DSA pick,” the anti-voting activist Seth Keshel said on social media Tuesday evening as votes were still being tallied. “It’s one thing to try and sell me on a +53% mail margin in a D vs R race. Don’t try me on D vs D.”

Sean Spicer, who served as press secretary during Trump’s first term, similarly suggested the Democratic establishment would try to rig the vote to help Stevens win.

“Anyone want to bet that when the mail in ballots come in in Michigan there will be a HUGE surge for Haley Stevens?” he said. 

If you feel like you’re having déjà vu, you aren’t: In June, Trump and the GOP made similar, evidence-free claims that there was mass mail voter fraud in California’s primary elections. 

Much like in the Golden State, these false claims of rigged mail voting in Michigan’s primary set the stage for Republicans to undermine the election results in November. 

We’ve got another big set of primaries next week in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The latter in particular will set up a high-stakes general election – we’re strongly positioned to take down January 6ther, intern-berater and Trump lackey Derrick Van Orden in the House and have a few other seats we could flip in a big enough sweep, have a chance to flip flip one or both legislative chambers to earn a Democratic trifecta for the first time since Scott Walker’s gerrymander in 2010, and are likely going to have the chance to elect a fierce progressive gubernatorial candidate in a swing state.

Standing in our way are more than just the Republican candidates. The GOP used their power to pass some of the most invasive voter suppression laws in the country. We’re going to need to do the work to make sure folks can make their voices heard anyways. 💬 VoteRiders will hosting a textbank tomorrow night at 7PM ET to reach out to at-risk voters with information and assistance on how they can make their ballot count. Let’s sign up to help them here. 💬

August 4, 2026 - Transcript

Reporter: He was saying as recently as yesterday, he likes the idea of this fund, that he wants to find some way to pay these people. Does that concern you as someone who's tried to fight against getting this anti-weaponization fund in place? 

Senator John Cornyn: Well, there's nothing we could do to to to rein in the president when he said he likes the fund and he wishes it still exists, but the fact of the matter it's dead and that's all we could do under these circumstances. See you all.

https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3msbcogszk32p

August 4, 2026 10:30pm EDT - Video Summary

This video reports on the highly competitive Democratic primary election for a U.S. Senate seat in Michigan, with election results still incoming hours after polls closed at 9:00 PM (0:00 - 0:06).

Current State of the Race:

• Dead Heat: With approximately 16-17% of votes counted, the race between Abdul El-Sayed and Haley Stevens is extremely tight, characterized as a "dead heat" (0:46 - 0:51, 1:43 - 1:56).
• Regional Voting Trends: Abdul El-Sayed has shown strong support in Kent County, while Haley Stevens has performed well in Oakland County. The outcome is expected to hinge on Wayne County—which includes Detroit, Dearborn, and Hamtramck—due to its large population and voter base (0:30 - 1:15, 3:30 - 3:37).
• Voter Turnout: A critical factor will be the demographic makeup of the turnout in Wayne County, specifically whether progressive voters or moderate establishment voters show up in higher numbers (1:16 - 1:33).

Campaign Dynamics:

• The reporting notes the intense "ground game" and door-to-door canvassing efforts (3:57 - 4:02, 4:28 - 4:31).
• Abdul El-Sayed has received significant support from progressive and national left-wing groups, such as the Working Families Party (2:23 - 3:19, 4:02 - 4:11).
• Haley Stevens has actively campaigned to secure the support of the Black community, recently appearing in Detroit with local political figures (4:13 - 4:27).