El-Sayed, Stevens tangle in Michigan Democratic Senate debate: Key takeaways

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Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) and former Wayne County health director Abdul El-Sayed sparred on a Tuesday debate stage in the must-win Senate race for Democrats.

The Democratic primary debate, hosted by Nexstar’s WOOD TV8, marked the first meeting between Stevens and El-Sayed since state Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D) suspended her campaign over the weekend.

Her exit paved the way for a key proxy battle between centrist, moderate factions of the Democratic Party supporting Stevens and the progressive, anti-establishment wing backing El-Sayed. The future of the party as well as outside spending and support for Israel took center stage Tuesday ahead of the Aug. 4 primary.

The contest is one of the country’s most closely watched Democratic primaries this cycle, as the party’s hopes of capturing the upper chamber could hinge on keeping retiring Michigan Sen. Gary Peters’s (D) seat under Democratic control this fall.

Stevens, a four-term House lawmaker, argued she is the best candidate to do just that. She pointed to her experience and Capitol Hill and emphasized her support from key Democrats, which include Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), former Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D).

El-Sayed, who is backed by progressive powerhouses Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), hammered Stevens over her support for Israel and railed against “corporate-bought politics.” The 2018 gubernatorial candidate has led in the polls as the left flank of the party has notched key wins this summer.

The winner of next month’s primary will face off against former Rep. Mike Rogers, the GOP’s presumptive nominee for the upper chamber. Cook Political Report rates the race as a “toss up.”

Here are three takeaways from the second Democratic Senate primary debate in Michigan.

Sparks fly as race narrows

Sparks flew between the two Democratic candidates just minutes into the debate, setting the tone for the hour-long program and underscoring the increasing divisiveness of the primary with McMorrow out of the race.

“I’m the only person running for United States Senate in Michigan who is not a millionaire. I am not trying to sell a book or a podcast,” Stevens said in her opening remarks. “I’m the only one on this stage who doesn’t have a talent agent trying to pitch me for paid speeches, and unlike my opponent, I’m not running at the first mic or camera I see.”

“We do not need a celebrity senator, we need a workhorse,” she added.

El-Sayed, an epidemiologist who previously ran for Michigan governor in 2018, has authored three books and previously hosted the “America Dissected” podcast, which focuses on the intersection of U.S. health, policy and politics.

The progressive physician hit back at Stevens, arguing she was beholden to special interests as at least one group — the super PAC of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) — has spent at least over $10 million to attack E-Sayed and back Stevens, according to federal campaign finance reporting.

“If Congresswoman Stevens makes it or Mike Rogers wins, either way, Israel will win,” El-Sayed said at one point. “AIPAC is perfectly fine with either of my two opponents, because they know that they will have a comfortable, reliable vote in the U.S.A.”

The tension comes as both candidates jostle for the voters that had supported McMorrow, who ended her bid over the weekend without endorsing either of her Democratic rivals.

Decision Desk HQ’s polling aggregate put El-Sayed up roughly 7 points over Stevens at the end of June, as support for McMorrow dropped.

Divides over outside spending, Israel take center stage

Divides over outside spending and support for Israel have emerged as wedge issues in a number of Democratic primary races this cycle, particularly in Michigan.

“We also don’t need politicians bought off by corporations,” El-Sayed said during the debate. “In this race, you’ve probably seen ad after ad after ad. Not one of those ads was brought to you by the congresswoman’s campaign. All of them brought to you by corporate PACs and AIPAC trying to buy a politician who’s going to do their bidding instead of yours.”

Stevens hit back at El-Sayed, pressuring the former Wayne County health official to release his financial disclosure paperwork. El-Sayed filed for an extension, which Stevens has also done.

“Abdul, you talk about getting money out of politics and putting money in people’s pockets, but who is putting money in yours?” she said.

El-Sayed and Stevens also tangled over aid for Israel and the war in Gaza. The issue has dominated in Michigan, where the 2024 Uncommitted Movement against former President Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war originated.

El-Sayed reiterated his position that the U.S. should not be offering further aid to Israel and said the Middle Eastern country was waging a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

“I also believe that your money needs to be spent here, because at the end of the day, the ultimate losers are you and me, the taxpayers who paid that money to provide good infrastructure, build schools, provide health care for our own kids,” El-Sayed said. “Not to watch it get sent to buy bombs and tanks that end up annihilating other people and their children.”

Stevens, meanwhile, emphasized her support for a two-state solution. She said she “not afraid of bullies” by pointing out her criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which puts her at odds with groups like AIPAC.

“The difference between my opponent and myself on this issue is that I believe in a two-state solution. I can say that Israel has a right to peacefully exist alongside the people of Palestine and in Gaza,” Stevens said, knocking El-Sayed over an interview where he dodged questions about whether Israel has the right to exist.

“It is very clear that Mr. Netanyahu has not made us safer, has not brought us closer to peace and he’s endangered Jews here in America and around the world,” she continued. “This is why he was just trashing me today on CNN.”

Stevens hits stride in second debate

Stevens was quick to go on the offensive against El-Sayed on Tuesday after a lackluster debate performance in May, hammering the public health official over his financial disclosures and his professional record.

“If you check the facts, the claims that my opponent has made about eradicating medical debt are untrue,” she said at one point in the debate. “If that’s all you got to run on Abdul, well then good for you.”

Bridge Michigan reported last month that El-Sayed’s campaign has overstated how much debt a program that El-Sayed helped launch in Wayne County was wiped away. The news outlet noted the program has erased nearly $60 million in medical debt — significantly less than the $700 million figure El-Sayed’s campaign  has touted in advertising.

A campaign spokesperson for the former Wayne County health director told Bridge Michigan at the time that the county had approved the funds to settle the $700 million medical debt and called the initiative “active and in progress.”

During the debate, El-Sayed maintained that he helped “eliminate medical debt.”

Stevens has struggled to counter El-Sayed’s attacks on AIPAC and outside spending on the debate stage. On Tuesday, however, she hit her stride when she underscored her opposition to Netanyahu and more forcibly responded to her opponent, saying “no one owns my vote.”

Still, El-Sayed also posted a strong performance Tuesday, seeking to side step questions about partisanship and the future of the Democratic Party to instead discuss cost-of-living issues. He also used his health background to describe how he would approach the job if elected to the Senate.

“Donald Trump’s version of tariffs is like chemotherapy, but you give the patient all the chemo at the same time,” he said. “I think there’s an opportunity where you pace it out, you think critically about how you protect critical budding manufacturing industry, and that you are transparent with your trading partners about how you do this in an effort to build long-term sustainable manufacturing jobs.”

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Bernie Sanders

Chuck Schumer

Debbie Stabenow

Gary Peters

Haley Stevens

Jennifer Granholm

Joe Biden

Mike Rogers

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