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WHO BENEFITS FROM MALLORY MCMORROW’S EXIT IN THE MICHIGAN SENATE
RACE?  
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Emma Janssen
July 8, 2026
The New Republic
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_ It’s now a two-way contest between progressive Abdul El-Sayed and
centrist Haley Stevens. Since McMorrow dropped out, El-Sayed has
received endorsements from Rep. Analilia Mejia, Michigan state Senator
Stephanie Chang, and Rep. Maxwell Frost. _

Michigan U.S. Senate candidates Abdul El-Sayed and Representative
Haley Stevens during a debate on Tuesday night., Photo credit: Kristen
Norman/AP Photo // The New Republic

 

In Michigan’s Democratic race for U.S. Senate, state Senator Mallory
McMorrow was caught in the middle of—and ultimately squeezed out
by—centrist Haley Stevens and progressive populist Abdul El-Sayed.
Now, with McMorrow having suspended
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her campaign on Sunday, Stevens and El-Sayed are both vying for her
supporters ahead of the August 4 primary—a head-to-head contest that
reflects the growing division between the party establishment and the
left. “The battle for the Democratic Party that we see nationally
has come to Michigan,” said David Dulio, a professor of political
science at Oakland University.

So far, McMorrow has not endorsed either candidate for the seat. One
Michigan political organizer shared a text conversation with_ The New
Republic_ in which McMorrow confirmed she had no plans to endorse.
Kelly Neumann, the former financial co-chair of McMorrow’s campaign,
has the same impression. “I think she wants the people to make their
own decision,” she said about McMorrow’s plans. “I think
everybody knows in their heart where, where she would vote,” Neumann
added. McMorrow didn’t respond to an inquiry.

“Whoever wins this primary on August 4th will have my full
support,” McMorrow wrote in a statement on X
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announcing her withdrawal from the race.

El-Sayed, a former state public health official and TNR contributor
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is running on a platform that includes Medicare for All and getting
corporate PAC money out of politics. He’s picked up a number of
progressive endorsements, including the likes of Senator Bernie
Sanders, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and the United Auto
Workers.

Stevens is backed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Speaker
Emerita Nancy Pelosi, and the EMILY’s List PAC, which endorses
pro-choice women running for office. She’s focused on her
legislative experience, having been a member of the U.S. House of
Representatives since 2018.

In a debate between the two on Tuesday night, they pushed each other
on the role of money in politics. El-Sayed asked Stevens about the
money her campaign has received from AIPAC, while Stevens pushed
El-Sayed to release his tax returns. The two also sparred over energy
costs. Both bemoaned that Michiganders have experienced power outages
and high utility bills, but El-Sayed pointed out that Stevens has
received tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from
Detroit Edison, the major utility company in southeastern Michigan;
its PAC contributed $35,000 to Stevens’s campaigns for House
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as well as $10,000 to a PAC associated with her.

In their closing statements, they made their priorities clear.
El-Sayed hammered on his economic populist message. “We need to take
on oligopolies and billionaires,” he said. “We need to guarantee
health care through Medicare for All.” He invited people to join his
campaign, saying, “It’s the many versus the money.” Stevens made
the pitch that she’s the right candidate to take down Republican
Senator Mike Rogers in the general election: “I am fed up and fired
up. Let’s go beat Mike Rogers, send him back to Florida a second
time, and make sure that Michigan shines at the lawmaking table.”

El-Sayed is hoping for a windfall of McMorrow supporters, writing on
Sunday: “I welcome her supporters to our movement to stand up
against money in politics, to put money back in pockets, and pass
Medicare for All.”

In a statement, Stevens praised McMorrow but didn’t explicitly ask
McMorrow’s supporters to join her campaign. “Anyone who raises
their hand to serve the people of Michigan and puts forward thoughtful
ideas for how they would lead earns my respect,” she wrote. Caitlin
Legacki, a spokesperson for her campaign, told me, “Now that it’s
a two-person race, we have a chance to really go out and consolidate
Haley’s voters, which includes Mallory’s remaining supporters who
we’re all working really hard to try and woo.”

Some Michiganders say that, anecdotally, McMorrow’s decision to drop
out of the race has been a boon for El-Sayed. “We’re getting a lot
of new Mallory people coming to the group,” said Wanda Hammoud, the
board chair for One Fair Wage Action, about a pro-El-Sayed Facebook
group she started. The group has over 21,000 members, and Hammoud said
it jumped by 2,000 in just one day this week.

“I’ve been pretty much an establishment Democrat, quite
honestly,” said Neumann. Despite that, she said, “right off the
bat, I knew immediately when I received the news that [McMorrow] was
going to suspend her campaign that I was going to go to Abdul
El-Sayed. I just knew that’s where I had to go. I’m looking for
change.” (Neumann and the Stevens campaign sparred
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earlier this year when an old, controversial social-media post of
Neumann’s resurfaced. Neumann blamed the Stevens campaign for
publicizing the post to hurt McMorrow’s campaign.)

El-Sayed has led in most polls
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since April. Most recently, a late-June Quantus Insights poll
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surveyed 433 likely voters and found 41 percent supporting El-Sayed,
36 percent supporting Stevens, 8 percent supporting McMorrow, and 16
percent undecided.

“If endorsements from this point pretty much break equally, the tie
goes to Abdul, because he was already leading in the polls,” said
Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.
“He just needs to keep the dynamics the way they were.”

Since McMorrow dropped out, El-Sayed has received endorsements from
Representative Analilia Mejia, Michigan state Senator Stephanie Chang,
and Representative Maxwell Frost. On the day McMorrow left the race,
Stevens received an endorsement
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from Attorney General Dana Nessel. Green expects more endorsements to
come this week. He specifically has his eyes on Senator Elizabeth
Warren, who endorsed McMorrow, and Jewish politicians like Andy Levin,
who Green says could help draw Jewish voters to El-Sayed. Stevens,
backed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, has called
herself
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a “proud pro-Israel Democrat.” Meanwhile, El-Sayed is critical of
Israel’s government and outspoken about the genocide in Gaza.

If Warren endorses El-Sayed, Green said, “that would be a very
high-profile, newsworthy signifier that McMorrow world is going
Abdul’s direction.”

_[__EMMA JANSSEN_ [[link removed]]_ is a
staff writer at The New Republic.] _

* Michigan
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* Abdul El-Sayed
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* Haley Stevens
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* Mallory McMorrow
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* Chuck Schumer
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* AIPAC
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* Detroit Edison
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* Gaza
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* Israel
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* Elections 2026
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* 2026 Midterms
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* Donald Trump
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* MAGA
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