GOP leaders fear their base. In contrast, far too many Democratic leaders ignore their base or even view us with contempt. We just saw that play out in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, where one candidate was championing views on key issues supported by 75% to 90% of Democratic voters—while the other candidate represented a distinctly minority view of the base. We are talking everything from Medicare for all to abolishing ICE to ending military aid to Israel.
But who did Democratic leaders in Washington D.C. and Michigan endorse? The candidate who stood for the views of about 25% of Democratic voters are today. This has to end—and we must be the ones to end it.
The Michigan Democratic Senate primary was simply the latest example. This race pitted Abdul El-Sayed versus Rep. Haley Stevens. On the big issues that dominated this race, El-Sayed lined up with a huge chunk of the Democratic base while Stevens lined up frankly more with the views of GOP voters. And that is all backed up by polling. Here are the receipts:
1. Medicare for All. This is now supported by 90% of Democratic voters per recent polls. El-Sayed—who wrote a book years ago advocating Medicare for All—has made embracing this issue one of the most visible parts of the campaign. Stevens, on the other hand, opposes it and instead wants to reinstate ACA subsidies the GOP ended and seeks to expand the ACA.
2. Abolish ICE. After the abuses we’ve seen from ICE under Trump’s second term—including murdering people—we now see nearly 75% of Democrats supporting the abolishment of ICE. El-Sayed has made abolishing ICE a large part of his platform. But despite what Democratic voters want, Stevens—who has voted in the past to fund ICE--opposes abolishing the agency and instead wants reforms.
3. Raising taxes on the wealthy. Recent polls show that 80% of Democrats want to see taxes raised on the wealthy. El-Sayed strongly supports raising taxes on the ultra-wealthy and billionaires. Stevens in contrast has not taken a position on specifically raising taxes on the wealthy—instead simply saying we need tax fairness. But by not supporting higher taxes on the wealthy explicitly she again ends up holding a position supported by GOP voters—not Democrats.
4. Ending military aid to Israel and Gaza. This became a major issue in the race. Well, a recent NY Times poll finds 74 percent of Democratic voters opposed additional military support for Israel. El-Sayed has been very outspoken on ending military aid to Israel and instead spending those billions back in the United States. (He has said the same about ending aid to Egypt.) In stark contrast, Stevens supports additional military aid to Israel with no conditions. In fact, just a few weeks ago she voted to ensure the Netanyahu regime receive $3 billion more of our tax dollars for its military.
And despite nearly 65% of Democrats supporting the arrest of Netanyahu for war crimes for his actions in Gaza, Haley was one of only 45 House Democrats out of more than 200 to vote to sanction the International Criminal Court for investigating Netanyahu for war crimes. Again, Stevens is fighting for a position supported by the GOP base—not Democrats.
5. Big money in politics: A whopping 88% of Democrats want to ban “dark money” in politics--funds from groups that do not disclose their donors. El-Sayed has made getting big money out of politics a central theme. Stevens on the other hand refused to commit to any such efforts and instead when asked recently about El-Sayed’s position she deflected saying, “My opponent has done a great job talking about campaign finance. It’s an educated issue…That’s totally fine, but you know what else? These families on paid leave? They need affordable daycare.”
Stevens also accepted donations from corporate PACs such as the big Michigan utility companies and from PhRHMA, a trade group representing pharmaceutical firms, and UnitedHealth Group— both key players in the for-profit healthcare industry. That does not even include the $30 million spent by AIPAC funded group to support her a nonprofit that does not disclose its donors. In fact as NY Times reported, all the other pro-Stevens groups are financed by nonprofit groups that do not disclose their donors. Without dark money she would’ve been trounced which is why she doesn’t oppose it.
The above are key issues dominating the 2026 primary season. El-Sayed lines up with the Democratic base on issue after issue—Stevens does not. Yet we saw many longtime Democratic leaders in Washington and Michigan line up with Stevens.
The most notable DC insider being Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer—along with Senators Chris Coons, Ruben Gallego and others in the House. Then there was the Democratic establishment in Michigan led by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, outgoing Senator Gary Peters, current Michigan AG Dana Nessel, Rep. Hillary Scholten and more. And many of these Democrats helped raise the millions used to attack El-Sayed and prop up Stevens.
These Democratic leaders tried to justify their endorsement by saying Stevens was somehow more electable. In reality, polls show both Stevens and El-Sayed running neck in neck with GOP Senate nominee Mike Rogers.
What these Democratic leaders are really saying is they don’t care what the Democratic base thinks. They have made their decisions based on their own views on issues that don’t line up with rank-and-file Democrats, are supporting Stevens because that is who their donors support or any other reason.
Polls before Tuesday’s primary election showed El-Sayed with about ten-point lead. ButEl-Sayed was outspent nine to one as big corporate interests, establishment Democratic groups and AIPAC spent nearly $60 million to defeat El-Sayed. Some of the ads were deceptive with suggestions that President Obama had endorsed Stevens—he had not.
Others claimed El-Sayed was the leader of the Uncommitted movement and never supported VP Kamala Harris. That was a lie—as fact checkers noted El-Sayed endorsed Harris within hours of her being announced the candidate to replace Joe Biden. But with that amount of money lies can become reality to many.
But the real insult was seeing so many Democratic leaders turning their back on the Democratic base. They are telling us how little they think of us. They are telling us that they know best. Well, it’s time to tell them where the door is. We need leaders who listen to the base and fight for our concerns—not people who ignore us!
I make the case in my video why this is happening and how to end it:
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