Tuesday's primary elections in five states — Michigan, Washington, Virginia, Kansas, and Missouri — set the stage for November's midterms, with voters choosing candidates in races that could determine control of Congress.
Michigan Senate primary a narrow win for progressive
In Michigan, former public health official Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive, narrowly defeated moderate congresswoman Haley Stevens in the Democratic Senate primary, winning 48.5% of the vote to Stevens's 47.5%, according to the Associated Press. Stevens had the backing of Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. Republicans nominated former congressman Mike Rogers, who narrowly lost the state's other Senate seat two years ago.
Progressive wins elsewhere, but not everywhere
El-Sayed's victory adds to a string of progressive primary wins in New York and Colorado, fueled by discontent among Democrats with party leadership and its traditional support for Israel. William Lawrence, co-founder of the Sunrise Movement, won the Democratic nomination in Michigan's seventh congressional district. In Detroit, progressive Donavan McKinney ousted Congressman Shri Thanedar, who had been backed by groups aligned with Aipac.
But left-wing challengers did not triumph everywhere. In Missouri, voters in the St Louis area renominated incumbent Wesley Bell over former congresswoman Cori Bush, who had sought a comeback. Bush, who believes Israel committed genocide in Gaza, lost badly, receiving less than 40% of the vote, despite attempting to harness anti-Israel sentiment. In Washington, Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a moderate, clinched her primary against a crowded field that included a left-wing challenger.
Republican-backed measures rejected
Missouri voters overwhelmingly rejected a ballot initiative to make it harder for state constitutional amendments to pass, as well as an attempt to phase out the state income tax, each by around 80% margins. In Kansas, voters turned back a GOP-backed measure to have state supreme court judges popularly elected rather than appointed by the governor, four years after approving abortion protections in the state constitution.
Democratic divides in battleground Michigan
Michigan's primaries highlighted sharp divides among Democratic voters over which approach works best. Stevens's strong showing indicates El-Sayed must win over centrist voters she courted, including those who preferred her views on Israel. Similarly, Lawrence, who won a divided field of moderates, now faces the challenge of convincing voters in a narrowly divided district to support his progressive agenda.
