Progressive Abdul El-Sayed wins Michigan's Democratic primary for Senate

People vote in the primary election at Northwestern High School in Detroit, Tuesday. Nic Antaya/AP hide caption

Abdul El-Sayed has narrowly won the Democratic nomination for Senate in Michigan, according to a race call by The Associated Press. The result marks a win for the progressive wing of the party, with El-Sayed defeating Rep. Haley Stevens, who had the backing of party centrists.

Vote counting went through the night and into the morning before the race was decided. Now El-Sayed will face former Rep. Mike Rogers this fall for the Senate seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Gary Peters. The match up is seen as a must-win for Democrats hoping to retake the chamber from Republican control.

"We know that to defeat Trumpism we have to defeat Trump's handpicked candidate," El-Sayed told NPR's Morning Edition shortly before the race was called.

El-Sayed is an epidemiologist and a former health director for Detroit and later the surrounding county. He ran for governor in 2018 but came in second to now-Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, in the primary.

His platform includes embracing Medicare for all and cutting the influence of corporate money in politics. During his campaign he highlighted and criticized the money being spent against him by an organization aligned with the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC.

He attracted the biggest stars on the political left, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who traveled to Michigan to campaign with him.

El-Sayed does not identify as a socialist and calls himself a capitalist. While he is not endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, whose candidates have won races this primary season, he holds some similar positions. He supports abolishing ICE, for example.