FOUR MONTHS REMAINING

The heat now being generated by the U.S. Senate contest in Michigan has a great deal to do with the early voting dates for the August 4 primary election in Michigan. Technically, absentee ballots, the main way many voters participate, have to be available 40 days ahead of an election. With March just around the corner, there are about four months remaining before the electorate starts casting ballots, which is why campaigns are buckling down, worrying not just about candidate name identification numbers but also starting to draw issue contrasts with other candidates in the Senate contest. For Democrats in the Senate contest – Mallory McMorrow, Haley Stevens and Abdul El-Sayed – most polling shows the race to be fairly close as we enter the next phase of the race. McMorrow has made substantial gains since she first announced for this office, but most polling shows the three contenders within a couple of points of each other when it comes to name recognition. But, depending on the poll, there is still anywhere from 15 to 30 percent of the voters either undecided on who they support or whether they have even heard of the candidates. On the campaign finance side, Stevens seem to be in the best shape. The Congresswoman raised $2.11 million in the last quarter of 2025 and has $3.05 million cash on hand. El-Sayed raised $1.77 million in the same time period and has $1.97 million cash on hand. McMorrow raised $1.74 million and has $1.24 million on hand. Several theories about this race abound. One, noted in a couple of national publications, has it that Stevens, considered the favored candidate by D.C. Democrats, is experiencing a softening in support due to low excitement in her campaign. Others posit that her cash advantage will serve her well as McMorrow, with a higher burn rate, will have to spend even more to boost her position in the coming months. Yet other prognosticators note that a state-wide contest is heavily determined by the votes cast in southeast Michigan, which could work to the advantage of Stevens.