El-Sayed Defeats Candidate Backed by Israel Lobby to Secure US Senate Nomination

Progressive figure Abdul El-Sayed won the Democratic Party nomination for a US Senate seat from Michigan on Wednesday. El-Sayed successfully defeated Congresswoman Haley Stevens in a contest that became one of the most expensive and closely watched primary elections in US history. NBC News projected El-Sayed’s victory on Tuesday evening. The fierce campaign saw over $60 million spent, with the majority of those funds coming from outside groups seeking to block his path to the Senate. As of 15.30 BST, NBC reported that El-Sayed had secured 48.5 per cent of the vote, compared to Stevens’ 47.5 per cent, with 98.7 per cent of the estimated total votes counted. Mallory McMorrow, a state legislator who had briefly entered the Senate race but withdrew weeks before the election, declared her support for El-Sayed shortly after NBC announced the result. The outcome is viewed as a heavy blow to pro-Israel lobby groups, particularly the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which poured more than $30 million into supporting Stevens in an effort to eliminate one of the Democratic Party’s most outspoken advocates for Palestine. El-Sayed highlighted his narrow lead as results began to come in during the early hours of Wednesday, but he stated that a major struggle still lies ahead. ‘I wish I could tell you all that I am declaring victory right now,’ he told supporters at an election night watch party in Detroit.