Voters are heading to the polls for primary elections in five states today: Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Virginia, and Washington. In Michigan, Democrats are facing a critical test of the party’s direction.
Four-term moderate Rep. Haley Stevens, backed by the Democratic establishment, is facing off against progressive Abdul El-Sayed.
Recent polls show El-Sayed, who has been endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and socialist Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, with a slight advantage heading into the election.
PHOTO: Sen. Bernie Sanders campaigns for Michigan Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed, July 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Juarez) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images)
“It has now become an election of national significance,” Sanders said at a recent rally for El-Sayed. “And it is an election of historical significance.”
Stevens hit back at Sanders in the final hours of the campaign, saying, “Someone might have to ask the senator who’s campaigning for my opponent where he was. I’m here to solve problems for the people of Michigan.”
The contest is seen as the latest indication of the growing strength of Democratic socialists in the Democratic Party.
El-Sayed has said he is not a Democratic socialist, but he has spoken at their events and is backed by supporters of the Democratic Socialists of America party. Analysts say a win for him would be viewed as a victory for the movement.
PHOTO: Abdul El-Sayed and U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens (Photos by Robin Buckson/Detroit News via AP, Pool)
Democratic socialist candidates have been making gains in the party all year, winning primary victories in New York, Colorado, and Illinois.
The DSA party platform includes making radical changes to the U.S. Constitution, including abolishing the U.S. Senate, abolishing the Electoral College, and having Congress elect the President and the U.S. Supreme Court.
They are also making revolutionary economic proposals, attracting the criticism of long-time liberal HBO host and comedian Bill Maher.
“One of the new soon-to-be Democratic Congress people, Darlizia Chavela, supports seizing all properties from landlords and said seize the means of production,” Maher commented on a recent episode of his show. “Mamdami has said the end goal is seizing the means of production. Maybe you missed that in school or missed school altogether, but that’s communism, which we tried, and it doesn’t work.”
Popular progressive streamer Hasan Piker has helped fundraise for socialist candidates and has been accused of anti-American and antisemitic statements. In 2019, he said America deserved 9/11. He later walked the statements back.
“Hasan Piker thinks communism is so groovy he laments the fall of two of the most murderous regimes in history — the Soviet Union and Chairman Mao’s China,” Maher explained.
The rise of the far-left Democrats threatens to split the Democratic Party. Prominent Democratic strategist James Carville told Fox News he is ready to leave the party over the issue.
“I am not going to be in the same party with Hasan Piker,” Carville said. “I can tell you that right now. If he becomes a force in the Democratic Party, I’m out of here. I have no intention of ever being in same political party as that guy.”
