MISSING IN ACTION

As the post-mortem analysis continues following the Senate primary election, both Democrats wonks and regular voters are looking at all aspects of Abdul El-Sayed’s win and Haley Stevens’ loss, and whether it is a major progressive win, as much of the media is alleging, or if it was a case of Stevens running a poor campaign, and El-Sayed having the wind at his back. Probably a mixture of all of the factors. Republican strategist Dennis Darnoi noted that El-Sayed’s win, coupled with “Will Lawrence in the 7th and Donovan McKinney in the 13th winning their primaries … it shows that there is real force behind that ‘movement’ within the Dem party … I just think the electorate is filled with very angry people who just want candidates who will ‘break dishes.’ There were plenty of Republicans that I met on the trail who only had ears for a disrupter … I don’t discount El-Sayed ‘rebuilding’ a Trump-like coalition to support his candidacy. That’s why this fall will be very interesting to watch and chronicle. Now the million dollar question, can they win in the general?” Another question percolating amongst both the donor class and politicos is, where was Senator Elissa Slotkin? She was belatedly recruited to endorse 7th District candidate Matt Maasdam, who she had recruited to run, but she was glaringly MIA when it came to supporting Stevens, who came into office in 2018 in the same class as Slotkin. While Governor Gretchen Whitmer (finally!) put her popular capital to good use in endorsing Stevens, helping her to come within 14,500 votes of El-Sayed, the chatter is that Slotkin, who was recruited to the Senate, and has been taken under the wing of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, wanted her to support her fellow establishment Dem. Was Slotkin too busy flying around the country tooting her own horn as she attempts to lay the groundwork for a possible presidential run in 2028? Politics is a long game, and Stevens, who had little competition in 2024, spent her capital working to get Slotkin elected, only to see turnabout evaporate. Michigan Jews are enraged, with one Jewish politico stating, “I hate Elissa Slotkin right now. She doesn’t think about anyone but herself.” Voters will not forget that 14,500 votes were all that separated them from getting either newly-MAGA Republican Mike Rogers or far left progressive and antisemitic Abdul El-Sayed from representing them as their U.S. Senator rather than Haley Stevens.

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  Will Lawrence

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  Donovan McKinney