(CNN) — The stark choice facing Michigan’s Democratic voters in the August 4 Senate primary was on display Monday night, as the two candidates closed their final debate by pitching themselves as best positioned to win a general election that could tip the balance of power in the chamber.
Rep. Haley Stevens name-dropped a powerful ally, two-term Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, for the fifth and final time that evening. She bragged that she’d won in a Republican-leaning congressional district northwest of Detroit. And she said she “will be Michigan’s workhorse.”
Her progressive rival, former public health official Abdul El-Sayed, vowed to be independent from corporate and foreign interests he said have too much influence in both parties.
“You’ve got to have something you’re fighting for,” he said.
El-Sayed and Stevens are facing off in the highest-stakes Democratic primary of the 2026 midterm elections — one that pits a progressive favorite against an establishment-backed moderate in one of the nation’s most important battleground states.
The winner will face Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers in November, as Democrats seek to hold onto the seat of retiring Sen. Gary Peters. Without doing so, the party’s chances of winning the net four-seat gain they need to claim the Senate majority would all but evaporate.
Here are three takeaways from their debate Monday night on FOX 2 Detroit:
Who’s the ‘ogre’?
The hourlong debate featured a series of personal barbs — but the candidates began a discussion about the bitter nature of the campaign with El-Sayed seeking to make clear that one of his sharpest attacks was actually not directed at Stevens.
On Monday morning, Politico reported that he’d said at a recent virtual donor meeting that he could advance the progressive movement by helping to “put one ogre on a pike” — comments many took as a reference to Stevens.
The “ogre” El-Sayed had in mind, he said Monday night, is actually Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman. El-Sayed said the freshman Democratic senator “got elected on a set of values, and is now completely throwing those values in the mud.”
On the subject of “unkindness,” El-Sayed pivoted to address television advertisements by a group funded by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that cast him as having a history of disparaging women. The 41-year-old argues that the ad campaign takes out of context his past remarks about former first lady Michelle Obama; Whitmer, the popular Democratic governor who defeated El-Sayed in a 2018 primary; and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, who dropped out of the Senate race earlier this month.
“I’m the father of two daughters. I’m raising them to be stronger than any man. My wife is a doctor. My mother was the first tenured professor of engineering at her university. I was raised by strong women,” El-Sayed said. “To say that somehow, because I wrote an op-ed 15 years ago about what first lady Michelle Obama said, or I ran against Gov. Whitmer, that somehow I’m disrespecting anybody is just inconsistent with the truth.”
He also noted that he had urged supporters to refrain from attacking Stevens on personal terms.
Still, the congresswoman pounced, recounting some of those El-Sayed comments in her own words.
“Look, Abdul’s a great guy. He’s a great father. Only he can account for saying that Whitmer’s bought and paid for, or that, you know, no one cares about Debbie Stabenow, or that Mallory McMorrow isn’t smart enough,” she said. “That is certainly on him to respond to, which we certainly just did hear from him on that.”
El-Sayed responded that “in an effort to talk about civility, I just took another attack, and I just want you to ask yourself, what is it that you deserve from your politics now?”
Just before the moderator moved on to another topic, Stevens interjected one last time.
“Thank you for clarifying that you didn’t call me an ogre,” she said.
AIPAC’s divisive spending
Tens of millions of dollars in AIPAC-linked spending on TV ads targeting El-Sayed have played a critical role in the Michigan race — potentially damaging him, but also providing fodder for the progressive’s calls to get big money out of politics and his efforts to link Stevens to Israel’s war in Gaza.
Stevens said she would “absolutely not” do AIPAC’s bidding if she wins, but also said she does have differences with El-Sayed over the future of Israel and the Palestinian people.
“I believe in a two-state solution. He has attacked me by name for purporting that the people of Palestine and the people of Israel deserve to live side by side peacefully. The goal is always long-term peace,” she said.
El-Sayed said AIPAC supports Stevens because “they know she’ll be a reliable vote.”
He predicted that those watching the debate would see an ad or two during a commercial break at its half-hour mark attacking him.
“I believe in equal rights to peace, dignity and self-determination for Palestinians and Jewish Israelis alike. I believe that we should not be fighting stupid wars that AIPAC wants us to fight in the first place. And I believe we have a responsibility to keep our money here to invest here,” he said. “That really is the difference.”
Political insider vs. outsider
The clearest window into the differences between El-Sayed and Stevens came during a discussion about immigration policy. Both are critical of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions under President Donald Trump, but El-Sayed has repeatedly called for abolishing ICE.
Stevens said she is working in Congress to stop “abuses of power” by the Trump administration in its mass deportation efforts. “Not shouting into a bullhorn, not getting in front of the first camera I see, but doing the hard work,” she said, before criticizing El-Sayed’s work in recent years in more personal terms.
“My opponent here, Abdul — he is such a talented guy. He’s written three books. He’s had 300 podcasts. You know, he’s had all this attention,” she said. “But the deal is, is we don’t need a celebrity candidate. We don’t need a celebrity senator. We need somebody who’s committed to six years of hard, unglamorous work that’s going to stand up to this junk that is wreaking havoc and causing chaos right before our very eyes.”
El-Sayed responded that Stevens has voted to increase ICE’s funding in the past, arguing that stopping short of calling for the agency’s abolition is “exactly the kind of cowardice that we don’t need from Democrats.”
“So yeah, I’m going to take the bullhorn and I’m going to say that I think we need to abolish ICE because I am not afraid of what they’re going to say about me,” he said.
As for his podcast, which he hosted for “Pod Save America” parent company Crooked Media until last year, El-Sayed said: “Congresswoman, if you enjoy podcasts about public health, I welcome you to take a listen. You seem very concerned about that. I’m more concerned about the fact that people can’t pay for their gas, they can’t pay for their groceries.”
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