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Public health official Abdul El-Sayed defeated Representative Haley Stevens in a Michigan Senate primary that had become one of the most intense, closely watched contests in the country. In the latest edition of Right Now, political scientists Julia Azari and Seth Masket analyze the results in Michigan’s Senate race. They argue that it showed both the growing strength of the progressive left and the continued power of the party’s center-left. Stevens won by almost 30 points in Detroit, the latest example of a center-left candidate more successfully wooing African American voters than their progressive opponent. Azari and Masket also note the complexity of Tuesday’s results. In Michigan, Will Lawrence and Donavan McKinney, both backed by progressive groups, won competitive primaries over candidates supported by the center-left. On the other hand, former Representative Cori Bush, who had been a leading progressive in the House, was resoundingly defeated in her attempt to win back her seat in Missouri. They also debated the strategies of Wisconsin gubernatorial hopeful Francesca Hong and the very inaccurate polling in the Michigan race.
