DETROIT, Mich. — Dr. Abdul El-Sayed could have some backup.
Hardcore progressives are making a play for more than just the Michigan Senate race — they are targeting four key congressional races throughout the Wolverine State, ranging from deep blue seats to rural regions.
Given Michigan’s status as a swing state in the Rust Belt, moderates and the lefty faction of the Democratic Party view it as an opportunity to win back working-class voters who soured on the Dems.
“Squad” reps and other lefty figures have converged on Michigan to back El-Sayed for Senate and like-minded pols as the center of the Democrats’ civil war.
Perhaps the most closely watched House primary is state Rep. Donavan McKinney’s (D) challenge against Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.)
Thanedar is one of the more liberal members of the House, sitting in the Congressional Progressive Caucus. And his Detroit-based 13th Congressional District is widely seen as a safe blue seat.
His rival, McKinney, is endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), which has racked up five primary wins this cycle. Thanedar’s election in 2022 marked the first time since 1955 that Detroit didn’t have a black lawmaker represent the majority-black city in Congress.
Thanedar, who benefited from crowded primaries in the past that split the opposing vote, introduced articles of impeachment against President Trump mere months into his second term.
On Capitol Hill, Thanedar is not particularly popular with many of his colleagues in the Democratic Party, seemingly not too worried about him going down. The entrepreneur has a net worth in the tens of millions due to the Ann Arbor-based chemical testing lab he helped found, which he has used to buoy his campaign.
But his defeat could mirror that of Reps. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) and Dan Goldman (D-NY) to Darializa Avila Chevalier and Brad Lander, respectively, in June.
In addition to Donavan, the DSA is backing incumbent Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who is favored to win her seat as an original Squad member and anti-Israel crusader.
The DSA is also targeting a House seat held by Republicans: the 8th District, which Rep. Jack Bergman (D-Mich.) currently holds. The DSA is backing Kyle Blomquist in that northwest Michigan race. Bergman won reelection handily in 2024 by some 22 percentage points.
Although the DSA isn’t involved, lefties are taking aim at Rep. Tom Barrett’s (R-Mich.) seat in the Lansing-anchored 7th District, as well, which is a swing district.
There are three top Democrats vying for that seat: Sunrise Movement co-founder William Lawrence, Matt Maasdam, and Bridget Brink. Lawrence is backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and is hoping to prove that the far-left can take purple districts.
Michigan had previously been a staging ground for the far left. Sanders won the state in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary, and it was essentially the birthplace of the “uncommitted” movement against former President Joe Biden in 2024.
Moderate and mainstream Democrats have long argued that tacking too far to the left will scare off potential swing voters, while hardcore progressives believe voters aren’t as ideological and can be moved by bold ideas.
“The growing number of Michigan independents are not mushy moderates,” Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, theorized to The Post. “They passionately detest both political parties, thinking they are bought and paid for.”
