阿卜杜勒·赛义德周二下午离开最后一个投票站时的计划是，最早在晚上10点登上伍德沃德大道的宏伟剧院舞台，发表一场他知道更多是通过传播影响力的演讲。但他也指望一场大胜来回答关于他11月获胜机会以及为何其他民主党人需要跟随他的所有问题。
相反，埃尔-赛义德不得不等到周三早上，才以1500多张选票中的1．5万票优势取得微弱胜利。
“用穆罕默德·阿里的话说，＇我们震撼了世界，＇”他对记者说。
但他让该州许多关键民主党人并不信服，因为他在一场激烈、直击且极具个人色彩的初选后，承诺改变选民的承诺却远未兑现。
争夺的是一个参议院席位，这对他们党赢得总统唐纳德·特朗普最后两年上议院控制权的机会至关重要。
麦克风开着时，政治领导人自信地谈论他们相信党内可以团结起来支持埃尔-赛义德，对抗迈克·罗杰斯——这位前共和党国会议员曾在2024年差点赢得密歇根州另一个参议院席位。然后他们常常要求私下说，害怕伤口太深、溃烂，无法愈合。
埃尔-赛义德为民主党倾向社会主义派系带来了里程碑，该派在深蓝选区的近期竞选中又添了摇摆州胜利，同时他专注于推行全民医保和争取政治巨额资金。但反对者们却把他粉丝喜欢的东西看作是自负和仇恨的表现——他谴责大金团花费数千万给他的，称史蒂文斯是AIPAC的傀儡，连两句话都说不出来——都看作是自负和仇恨的表现。
这正是民主党主要成员希望避免的部分情况，两位领导人告诉CNN，他们多次联系埃尔-赛义德，要求他不要过于关注以色列，降低局势。
史蒂文斯在周三早晨打电话祝贺埃尔-赛义德，不久后他在市中心历史悠久的底特律精神纪念碑举行胜利新闻发布会。他们的前竞争对手马洛里·麦克莫罗当时在场，早已计划加入获胜者，但史蒂文斯未被邀请，一些支持者认为这是早期的轻视，因为她很快“认输了比赛”，并且做得很对“。
麦克莫罗说：“从现在起，我每天做的事情之一就是倾听每个人的声音，想办法让这个党重新团结起来，”麦克莫罗说，他周三立即支持了埃尔-赛义德。
“我知道可能需要几周时间，”麦克莫罗满怀希望地说，投票站将在周二关闭投票。“但我们从现在到十一月还有13周。”
一场团结集会定于周五上午在底特律举行，由来自密歇根的皮特·布蒂吉格领衔，他本人在可能的2028年总统竞选前已拒绝参选参议员。密歇根州民主党主席柯蒂斯·赫特尔表示，州党资助的45名组织者已在密歇根州各地开展工作，预计到十一月该人数将翻一番。外部资金已经确定，比如参议院多数政治行动委员会无论初选谁赢，都拨给密歇根的2000万美元。
“我们在全州每个共和党选区都举办过市政厅会议，我们看到有人因为觉得自己被承诺了什么——他们会成为第一——而愤怒，但他们绝对没有。他们为亿万富翁减税，同时削减这里人民的医疗保障，“赫特尔说。“所以对于民主党来说，虽然我理解初选后会有些生涩，但我相信他们知道，也会知道密歇根发生的事情对国家来说到底意味着什么。如果这些都不够，那最高法院由特朗普获得超级多数怎么样？”
最后时刻：彩带与自信
周二，在底特律举行的阿卜杜勒·赛义德初选之夜活动中，参加者们等待选举结果。 朱莉娅·德马里·尼金森／美联社
距离投票结束还有48小时多一点，主播Jack Cocchiarella问El-Sayed他拥有多少件黑色V领T恤，这些T恤已成为他竞选时故意露出肱二头肌的制服。
埃尔-赛义德回答是十二个，但“我还需要一个只写＇美以关系中最危险候选人＇的词。我会每天都戴着它。”
埃尔-赛义德在前往一个有影响者参加泳池派对的副驾驶座上，从那里拨入筹款活动，他透过墨镜边缘拍照，并与左翼影响者哈桑·皮克握手。
周一晚上，他与戴着蓝色底特律民主社会主义者帽子的皮克一起抵达，参加一座改建为酒吧的教堂活动。在里面，他演练了他所谓的胜利演讲，把自己置于他所说的纠正美国错误的传统中，这在国家250周年之际显得恰当。在外面，主要是外州的主播——包括两位专门关注猫咪的播客主持人——采访了主要是外州志愿者，全部都被El-Sayed吸引。
对于自2018年竞选州长以来一直谈论将资金从政治中剔除的埃尔-赛义德来说，这一时刻恰好体现了他对被AIPAC大幅压制的挫败感，转化为将他们变成所有外部支出的包容机构。
在周二于底特律路易·巴斯德学校投票后被问及时，34岁的汽车销售经理内森·布鲁诺表示，他选择埃尔-赛义德“主要是因为能让政治中获得资金，而海莉·史蒂文斯在这方面没有资格”。
30岁的底特律市IT员工艾米丽·洛佩兹表示，她关心以色列和加沙，但真正决定她投票的是大额资金团体为史蒂文斯开支。美国以色列公共事务委员会通过其超级政治行动委员会（super PAC）对埃尔-赛义德投入了超过3000万美元，这是一场广告攻势的一部分，使他在广播中处于30比1的劣势。
洛佩兹说，史蒂文斯是“假的”，看起来像个卧底共和党人“。
“如果我从别人那里拿钱，我会觉得必须还给他们一些东西，”她补充道。
埃尔-赛义德多次在辩论和网络上猛烈抨击AIPAC。即使是密歇根州“未承诺”运动联合创始人阿巴斯·阿拉维耶也开始抗议乔·拜登在以色列的行为，他表示对这些支出产生的广泛反响感到惊讶。
“我从事进步政治已经很长时间了。我从未见过像今年这样，选民们会如此关注想要将大金钱从政治中剔除，“阿拉维耶在迪尔伯恩一所学校外对CNN说，他刚刚在赢得州参议院席位的初选中为自己投票。“人们对我们的政治感到愤怒。经过七个月的敲门，我脑海里全是每扇门前传达给我的痛苦，以及一个又一个选民的劝说，“答应我，你不会忘记我们。”他们觉得我们的全国政党已经忘记了他们。”
许多密歇根州的民主党人需要被说服
拉斯特鲁普村市长凯利·加勒特曾参加麦迪逊高地一处水管工工会大楼举行的史蒂文斯集会，她表示自己是坚定的民主党人，但对支持埃尔-赛义德感到苦涩。
“这会很难，”加勒特说。“这会是个难以接受的事实，但我会做到的。因为我就是这么希望我们赢。”
周日在水管工工会大厅为史蒂文斯加油时，拉比阿舍尔·洛帕廷表示，虽然他在许多问题上是自豪的民主党人，但埃尔-赛义德对以色列的关注以及将密歇根许多问题归咎于国家资金，这对他来说可能难以逾越。
“我正在认真考虑投票给迈克·罗杰斯。我想重新审视我对阿卜杜勒·赛义德的理解，“洛帕廷说。“因为在很大程度上，我对所见感到非常不安，但我会重新审视这些事情，也会重新审视迈克·罗杰斯的本质。如果他完全听特朗普说的，我会害怕。”
众议员希拉里·斯科尔滕是史蒂文斯的支持者，曾在她的选举夜派对上登台，她经常批评埃尔-赛义德，并将他与皮克的多项有争议言论联系起来，包括她评论美国“活该”遭受2001年9月11日恐怖袭击的言论。斯科尔滕在周二之前拒绝透露如果埃尔-赛义德获胜，她是否会支持他。她发布了一份关于结果的声明，但没有提到他。
埃尔-赛义德的支持者可能会对他们现在不愿寻求团结感到愤怒。但在周二晚上，有些人已经暗示如果史蒂文斯赢了，他们也会有这样的反应。
民主社会主义者梅拉特·基罗斯在科罗拉多击败了一位现任众议院民主党人，他与埃尔-赛义德一同在全国范围内助推志同道合的候选人。她说，她期待回到州内协助他参加大选，因为“我们必须坚定地反对法西斯主义。”
当被问及是否会为史蒂文斯做同样的事时，她说：“你知道，我可能会远距离支持，实际上，你知道吗？不，我不会。”
随着以色列支持率在民调中骤降，埃尔-赛义德关于犹太国家与进步主义不相容的论点帮助了他的基础支持者。
“这就像是我很久以来第一次听到关于我认识的人曾经遇到过、我很快也会遇到的问题的答案，”26岁、身穿红翼队球衣、试驾福特车辆的贾瑞特·马基说。他临时从特洛伊开车赶来，成为周一晚活动中少数真正投票的人之一，和皮克及其他网红一起。
马基说，医疗和杂货费用一直在他心头，但同样对拜登没有像他认为前总统竞选时承诺的那样进步感到失望。当被问及哪些做法不够进步时，马基说：“在很多以色列-加沙事件中都牵连其中。”
真纪说，如果史蒂文斯赢了，他就无法支持她。
特朗普急于加剧这些分歧。
“他恨犹太人，也恨以色列，”总统周三这样评价埃尔-赛义德。“他恨他们，恨得像烧在心里，他无能为力。”
史蒂文斯则在周三上午发表声明，立即表示支持埃尔-赛义德。
“这是一场全面而严谨的竞选，充分展现了民主党内部的各种观点——这也是我们设立初选的原因，”她说。“我为能伸出援手服务感到自豪，更自豪的是继续携手确保这个参议院席位保持蓝队，我们能翻转美国参议院，继续为密歇根州工作。”
民主党还有足够的时间吗？
与埃尔-赛义德关系密切的人告诉CNN，他有时会惊慌地看着针对他的每周开支数据，尽管他将这种情绪转化为针对以色列和AIPAC的深入挖掘。AIPAC已承诺继续参与大选，表示其成员“坚决确保选民在11月拒绝埃尔-赛义德博士及其激进反以色列议程。”
多位民主党领导人告诉CNN，他们希望埃尔-赛义德在初选中能更好地倾听那些在各种问题上反对他的人，尤其是像洛帕廷这样觉得自己痛苦和关切被忽视的人。
“成为一名好领导者需要谦逊、有谦逊，并且善于倾听。而这将是人们能做的最重要的事情，以重新团结这个党派，“前州众议员玛丽·马努吉安在伯明翰一家户外咖啡馆工作时说。
周三，埃尔-赛义德试图向犹太裔美国人保证他对他们的支持。
“我想让你们知道，我对你们安全的承诺，我对犹太人的承诺，和我对自己女儿安全的承诺是一样的，”他周三早上对记者说。
但当天早上在酒店外，他拒绝了CNN关于与皮克同台是否是错误的问题。
“我觉得人们真的很担心他，但你也想想迈克·罗杰斯和谁来往，对吧？”他说，提到了特朗普。“我认为我们必须记住迈克·罗杰斯是什么，以及我们面对的是什么。”
大多数密歇根民主党人目前能达成共识的一点是：如果他们能实现足够的团结，至少重新掌控立法机构，他们将将未来的初选从八月提前到春季，以便有更多时间恢复。
‘We have 13 weeks’： A ruptured Democratic Party now tries to unite behind Abdul El-Sayed
Abdul El-Sayed’s plan as he left his last polling place stop on Tuesday afternoon was to take the stage at the Majestic Theater on Woodward Avenue as early as 10 p．m． to deliver a speech he knew had to be more about reaching out． But he was also counting on a big win to answer every question about his chances of winning in November and why other Democrats needed to fall in line behind him．
Instead， El-Sayed had to wait until Wednesday morning to claim a sliver of a victory， by 15，000 votes out of more than 1．5 million votes cast．
“In the words of Muhammad Ali， ‘We shook up the world，’” he told reporters．
But he left many key Democrats in the state unconvinced， now that his promises of transforming the electorate had fallen well short after a primary campaign that became vicious， visceral and deeply personal．
At stake is a Senate seat critical to their party’s chances of winning control of the upper chamber for President Donald Trump’s final two years．
While the microphones are on， political leaders talk confidently about how they know the party can come together behind El-Sayed against Mike Rogers， the former Republican congressman who came close to winning Michigan’s other Senate seat in 2024． Then they often ask to go off the record to say how terrified they are that the wounds are too deep and festering to heal．
El-Sayed achieved a landmark for the Democratic Party’s socialist-aligned wing， which now adds a swing-state victory to its recent run in deep-blue districts， and for his focus on enacting Medicare for All and going after big money in politics． But his detractors saw what his fans loved — his denunciations of the tens of millions spent against him by big-money groups， his calling Stevensan AIPAC puppet unable to form two sentences on her own— as signs of cockiness and hate．
This is part of what leading Democrats had hoped to avoid， with two telling CNN they reached out to El-Sayed repeatedly to ask him not to focus as much on Israel and to lower the temperature．
Stevens called El-Sayed to congratulate him on Wednesday morning not long before he held a victory press conference at the historic Spirit of Detroit monument downtown． Their former challenger Mallory McMorrow was on hand， long planning to join whoever won the race， but Stevens was not invited， which some supporters said they viewed as an early slight because she quickly conceded the race “and did things right．”
“Part of what I’m going to be doing every day from here on out is listening to everybody and figuring out how we bring this party back together，” said McMorrow， who endorsed El-Sayed immediately Wednesday．
“I recognize it may take a few weeks，” McMorrow said hopefully before polls closed Tuesday． “But we’ve got 13 weeks between now and November．”
A unity rally is scheduled for Friday morning in Detroit， headlined by Pete Buttigieg， the Michigan transplant who declined to run for Senate himself ahead of a possible 2028 presidential bid． Already， 45 organizers paid for by the state party have been working across Michigan， Michigan Democratic state chair Curtis Hertel said， with that number scheduled to double by November． Outside money is already set， like the $20 million that the Senate Majority PAC allocated for Michigan no matter who won the primary．
“We’ve done town halls in every Republican district in the state， and we see people who are angry because they feel like they were promised something — that they would be first — and they absolutely have not been． And they cut taxes for billionaires while they cut healthcare for the people here，” Hertel said． “So for Democrats， while I understand that there’s rawness after a primary， I believe that they know and they will know what’s actually at stake for the country about what happens in Michigan． And if none of that’s enough， then how about a Trump supermajority in the Supreme Court？”
The final hours： Streamers and confidence
With just over 48 hours to go until polls closed， streamer Jack Cocchiarella asked El-Sayed how many he owns of the black V-neck T-shirts that have become his deliberately bicep-baring campaign trail uniform．
Twelve， El-Sayed answered， but “I need one more that just says， ‘Most dangerous candidate for the US-Israel relationship．’ I’ll wear it every day．”
El-Sayed dialed into the fundraiser from the passenger seat on his way to a pool party with influencers， where he posed for shots looking over the rims of his sunglasses and gave a handshake-hug to leftist influencer Hasan Piker．
On Monday evening， he arrived with Piker， who was wearing a blue Metro Detroit Democratic Socialists of America cap， to an event at a church converted to a bar． Inside， he gave a practice run of his presumed victory speech， putting himself in what he said was a tradition of correcting the United States’ wrongs that felt appropriate for the country’s 250th birthday year． Outside， mostly out-of-state streamers — including two separate cat-focused podcast hosts — interviewed mostly out-of-state volunteers， all drawn in by El-Sayed．
For El-Sayed， who’s been talking about getting money out of politics since he ran for governor here in 2018， the moment met the message as channeled his frustration of being so wildly outspent by AIPAC into turning them into a catch-all for all outside spending．
Asked after he voted at the Louis Pasteur school in Detroit on Tuesday， Nathan Bruno， a 34-year-old automotive sales manager， said he picked El-Sayed “mainly because of getting money out of politics， and Haley Stevens didn’t have the credentials on that．”
Emily Lopez， a 30-year-old Detroit city employee who works in IT， said she cared about Israel and Gaza， but it was what the spending from big-money groups on Stevens’ behalf that decided her vote． The American Israel Public Affairs Committee spent more than $30 million through its super PAC against El-Sayed， part of an ad barrage that put him at a 30-to-1 disadvantage on the airwaves．
Stevens is “fake” and “seems like an undercover Republican，” Lopez said．
“If I took money from somebody， I’d feel like I’d need to give them something back，” she added．
El-Sayed repeatedly tore into AIPAC at debates and online． Even Abbas Alawieh， a co-founder of the Uncommitted movement in Michigan started to protest Joe Biden’s actions on Israel， said he’d been surprised at how widely the spending has resonated．
“I’ve been working in progressive politics for a very long time． I’ve never seen the issue of wanting to get big money out of politics so top of mind for voters as I’ve seen it this year，” Alawieh told CNN outside a school in Dearborn， where he’d just voted for himself in a winning primary race for a state Senate seat． “People are furious about our politics． After seven months of knocking doors， all I can think about is all the pain that was expressed to me at every door and all of the urging from one voter after another saying， ‘Promise you won’t forget about us．’ They feel like our national parties have forgotten about them．”
Many Michigan Democrats need to be won over
Kelly Garrett， the mayor of Lathrup Village who attended a Stevens rally at a plumbers union building in Madison Heights， said she’s a committed Democrat， but grimaced at the prospect of backing El-Sayed．
“It’s going to be tough，” Garrett said． “It’s going be a tough pill to swallow， but I’m going to do it． Because that’s how much I want us to win．”
And waiting to cheer for Stevens at the plumbers’ union hall on Sunday， Rabbi Asher Lopatin said that while he is a proud Democrat on many issues， El-Sayed’s focus on Israel and blaming funding to the country for many of Michigan’s problems could be insurmountable for him．
“I’m heavily considering voting for Mike Rogers． I want to re-examine my understanding on Abdul El-Sayed，” Lopatin said． “Because to a great extent， I’ve been very disturbed by what I’ve seen， but I will reexamine things and also reexamining what Mike Rogers is all about． I would be scared if he’s all totally whatever Trump says．”
Rep． Hillary Scholten， a Stevens backer who was on stage at her election-night party，frequently criticized El-Sayedand linked him to several of Piker’s controversial statements， including the streamer’s comment that the US “deserved” the September 11， 2001， terror attacks． Scholten declined to say before Tuesday whether she would endorse El-Sayed if he won． She posted a statement about the results that didn’t mention him．
El-Sayed supporters may rage about that reluctance to seek unity now． But going into Tuesday night， some were signaling that’s exactly how they would have reacted had Stevens won．
Melat Kiros， the democratic socialist who beat an incumbent House Democrat in Colorado， campaigned with El-Sayed as she travels the country to boost like-minded candidates． She said was looking forward to being back in state to help him in the general election since “we have to be standing tall and strong against fascism．”
Asked if she’d do the same for Stevens， she said， “You know， I might support from afar， probably — actually， you know what？ No， I wouldn’t．”
Assupport for Israel has plummetedin polling， El-Sayed’s argument that the Jewish state is incompatible with progressivism helped him with his base．
“It’s just like the first time in a while I’ve heard answers to problems that people I know have dealt with and that I will be dealing with soon，” Jarrett Maki， a 26-year-old in a Red Wings shirt who test-drives vehicles from Ford． He’d driven in from Troy in on short notice to be one of the few actual voters at Monday night’s event with Piker and other influencers．
The cost of healthcare and groceries was on his mind， Maki said， but so was being disappointed in Biden for not being as progressive as he believed the former president had promised to be while running in 2020． Asked to identify what wasn’t progressive enough， Maki said， “being complicit in a lot of the Israel-Gaza stuff．”
Had Stevens won， Maki said， he wouldn’t have been able to support her．
Trump is eager to exacerbate those divisions．
“He hates Jews and he hates Israel，” the president said of El-Sayed on Wednesday． “He hates them with a passion that burns in his heart， and there’s not a fricking thing he can do about it．”
For her part， Stevens immediately offered El-Sayed her support in a statement on Wednesday morning．
“This was a thorough and rigorous campaign that brought out the full span of views within the Democratic Party - and that is why we have primaries，” she said． “I am proud to have put up my hand to serve， and prouder to continue to work together to make sure this Senate seat remains blue， that we flip the United States Senate and continue the work for Michigan．”
Is there enough time for Democrats？
People close to El-Sayed told CNN he sometimes would look at the readouts of the weekly spending against him in panic， though he channeled that into digging in on Israel and AIPAC specifically． AIPAC has already vowed to stay involved in the general election， saying its members “remain determined to ensure that voters reject Dr． El-Sayed and his radical anti-Israel agenda in November．”
Multiple Democratic leaders told CNN they hope El-Sayed comes out of the primary doing better listening to those who are opposed to him on a variety of issues， but especially to people like Lopatin who feel like their own pain and concerns have been brushed aside．
“Being a good leader requires being humble and having humility and being a great listener． And that’s what’s going to be the most important thing that someone can do to bring this party back together，” said Mari Manoogian， a former state representative， as she spent part of primary day working at an outdoor café in Birmingham．
On Wednesday， El-Sayed sought to reassure Jewish Americans of his support for them．
“I want you to know that my commitment to your safety， my commitment to Jewish safety， is the same commitment that I have to the safety of my own daughters，” he said， addressing reporters Wednesday morning．
But outside of his hotel that morning， he rejected a CNN question about whether appearing with Piker was a mistake．
“I think people get real worried about him， but you think about who Mike Rogers has been palling around with， right？” he said， referencing Trump． “I think it’s important for us to just remember what Mike Rogers is and what we’re up against．”
The one thing most Michigan Democrats can agree on， at least for now： if they can pull off enough unity to at least win back full control of the legislature， they’re moving future primaries from August to the spring， so they can have more time to recover．
