Abdul El-Sayed defeats Aipac-backed rival in Michigan Democratic Senate primary, NBC reports
backed rival in Michigan Democratic Senate primary, NBC reports
GCC News
Progressive advocate Abdul El-Sayed won the Democratic nomination for the US Senate in Michigan on Wednesday, defeating Congresswoman Haley Stevens in a race that became one of the most expensive and closely watched primaries in US history.
NBC News projected El-Sayed’s victory late on Tuesday after a bruising campaign in which more than $60m was spent, much of it by outside groups seeking to block his path to the Senate.
As of 08:30 BST, NBC reported that El-Sayed had received 48.7 percent of the votes to Stevens’ 47.3 percent, with 92.9 percent expected votes tallied.
Regional Impact
Shortly after NBC made the announcement, Mallory McMorrow, a state legislator who was in the US Senate race but dropped out weeks before the elections, endorsed El-Sayed.
The result is being viewed as a major setback for pro-Israel lobbying groups, particularly the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), which spent more than $30m backing Stevens in an effort to unseat one of the Democratic Party’s most outspoken pro-Palestinian candidates.
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El-Sayed touted his narrow lead as results started to trickle in early on Wednesday, but said there was still a big fight to come.
“I wish I could tell you that I was declaring victory right about now,” he told his supporters at a watch party in Detroit.
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