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DETROIT — Fox News Digital hit the streets of the Motor City on Wednesday to speak with voters after progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed scored a huge win against the Democratic establishment in the Senate primary race.
“I’m ecstatic that he won. I’m very happy that he won. I was rooting for him the entire way,” Justice Cook, a downtown Detroit resident, told Fox News Digital after El-Sayed clinched the nomination.
“When I saw the results, I was watching it all night. I was happy. I actually went to bed at 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning. I couldn’t sleep,” Cook added. “Because the candidate of change that I wanted was finally able to get in, I was excited. Abdul put in the work — the groundwork. I saw him about four or five months ago, and I was always skeptical that he could pull it off, but when he pulled it off, I was just excited about it all the way around. So, go Abdul!”
Abdul El-Sayed beat Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., to secure the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
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Other local voters expressed similar enthusiasm over El-Sayed’s victory, with one noting that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s election victory helped pave the way for the Michigan Senate hopeful.
“I think it’s great and about time. I live in Detroit and I voted for him. We were watching deep into the night and I didn’t quite make it to him winning, but I woke up to good news,” Amy Oprean said.
Angela Barkley, a Midtown Detroit resident, was equally thrilled by the election results.
“I’m thrilled — it’s who I voted for, it’s who I wanted to win. I think that he’s going to make really good things happen. I could see what Mamdani was doing for New York and I really hope that we get a little bit of the good things like that here,” Barkley said.
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El-Sayed narrowly bested Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., to secure the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in what became one of the country’s most contentious primary battles. El-Sayed will now face former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, who ran uncontested in the GOP primary, in November.
An epidemiologist and former Wayne County health director who previously ran an insurgent campaign for governor in 2018, El-Sayed would become the nation’s first Muslim senator if elected. He has made support for “Medicare for All” a centerpiece of his campaign.
El-Sayed has also called for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and has been a vocal critic of Israel during its war against Hamas, characterizing Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide” against Palestinians.
Following his primary victory, El-Sayed urged party unity and took aim at Rogers. Many voters who spoke with Fox News Digital echoed those sentiments, hoping the party would coalesce around the progressive nominee ahead of the general election.
Van Jones and Sen. John Fetterman, two Democrats who have counseled caution against the rising far-left flank in the party. (Alberto Rodriguez/Variety via Getty Images; Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
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“Because we have so many different groups within the party, some people are not in favor of him, but if we get behind our candidate and support him, I think he’ll win — no brainer — in November. But we have to support him and unite behind him,” Cook said.
Other Detroiters anticipate a razor-thin general election against Rogers.
“I think it’s going to be close. I think it was going to be a close call,” said Victor Gilbert, a Detroit native and resident.
Jordan Zignego told Fox News Digital that, considering the political climate following the re-election in 2024 of President Donald Trump — which included narrowly carrying Michigan — the outcome remains up in the air.
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Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed poses for a portrait in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (Evan Cobb for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“It could go either way. I mean, I never thought Trump would be president, and I definitely didn’t think he’d be president twice. I mean, this country is f—ing ridiculous,” Zignego said.
Oprean noted that the primary was intensely competitive, pointing to the tight margin between the candidates. “The whole country was watching, and I think he kind of signifies two different parts of the Democratic Party, and I think that him winning shows that people want something different,” Oprean said.
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She concluded, “They don’t want business as usual because there’s just a lot of empty promises over the past 5, 10, 15 years … I think that there might be some hurt feelings, more than usual in this primary, but we got to just suck it up and band together.”
