Democrats’ surging left wing faces a test in Michigan: Older Black voters
Christian Science Monitor · C · trust 60/100
| Rebecca Cook/Reuters Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina speaks in support of Rep. Haley Stevens, right, during a rally with potential voters in Detroit, July 24, 2026. Ms. Stevens is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Gary Peters, who is stepping down after serving since 2015. Loading...
July 30, 2026, 5:00 a.m. ET | Detroit and Flint, Mich.
She came to see Rep. James Clyburn, a civil rights icon for her generation, and he didn’t disappoint. “It brought tears to my eyes,” says Aarolyn McCullough, as she left the union hall in Detroit after hearing the Democrat from South Carolina speak.
The retired postal worker had already cast her ballot for Rep. Haley Stevens, the candidate Mr. Clyburn is backing in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary. “She gets things done,” Ms. McCullough says.
Black voters like Ms. McCullough are poised to play a decisive role in the marquee Aug. 4 race between Ms. Stevens, a centrist U.S. House member from suburban Detroit, and Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive former public health official. The expensive and acrimonious Senate contest has become a proxy battle for the Democratic Party’s future, spotlighting internal racial and generational divisions over everything from healthcare to immigration to aid for Israel. As the party grapples with a surge of energy on its left flank that’s toppled some longtime incumbents, Black Democrats, who have historically tended to back more moderate candidates, could hand the progressive movement a high-profile defeat – or its biggest victory yet.
Tuesday’s primary for Michigan’s open Senate seat is serving as a proxy battle over the Democratic Party’s future, underscoring racial and generational divisions over everything from healthcare to immigration to aid for Israel. How it all plays out could shape the direction of the party, including the 2028 presidential race.
Polls show Ms. Stevens, who is white, has an edge among Black voters overall , particularly older ones, while Dr. El-Sayed leads among younger and college-educated voters of all races. At the same time, the Black vote – long a cornerstone of the Democratic base – is itself increasingly divided along age and education lines.
A flood of Michigan heavy-hitters, including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and retiring Sen. Gary Peters, have lined up behind Ms. Stevens, along with members of the national establishment, such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. Dr. El-Sayed, meanwhile, has the backing of progressive figures such as Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
How it all plays out – and how Tuesday’s winner fares against former congressman Mike Rogers, the expected GOP nominee, in the fall – could reframe the debate over the direction of the party, including what type of candidate Democrats should nominate for president in 2028. In 2020, Black voters in South Carolina played a key role in stopping a surging Mr. Sanders and delivering the Democratic presidential nomination to Joe Biden. For the 2028 cycle, the Democratic National Committee voted in July to change the primary calendar so South Carolina will cast the very first votes.
Simon Montlake/The Christian Science Monitor Kendyll Lavat (left) and a friend color a poster at a "get out the vote" event in Detroit, July 25, 2026. Ms. Lavat says she is planning to vote for Haley Stevens in the Aug. 4 Democratic Senate primary. Both campaigns are working to turn out the vote in Detroit, a majority Black city that has more than 500,000 registered voters. Only 1 in 5, however, usually vote in party primaries.
Kendyll Lavat, a healthcare worker, brought her ballot to a “get out the vote” block party in downtown Detroit on Saturday. She says she is leaning toward Ms. Stevens, despite misgivings about the lawmaker’s support for data centers, because she sees her as the better bet to win in the fall. “It’s important to me that the candidate has the potential to win in November,” she says.
Ms. Lavat, who is Black, praises Dr. El-Sayed’s support for universal healthcare, but is hesitant to vote for him. The candidate has been hit by a slew of negative ads; one spot accuses him of “disrespecting women,” which his campaign calls misleading and offensive. “I don’t see much positive support for him, so I’m concerned that he will have a lot of roadblocks,” Ms. Lavat says.
Dr. El-Sayed’s far-left platform – which calls for Medicare-for-all, abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and ending all U.S. aid to Israel – echoes those of democratic socialist candidates who have recently surged to victory in primaries in blue states (though Dr. El-Sayed does not call himself a democratic socialist). Those ideas might face more of an uphill climb in a swing state such as Michigan.
Speaking to reporters in Flint, Dr. El-Sayed refuted criticism that his campaign hasn’t connected with Black voters, pointing to his years of community work as a public health official. “I try to make a habit of showing up and delivering, and that’s the basis of the support that we’re earning in and around Detroit, Wayne County, and in the Black community,” he says.
Jose Juarez/AP Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, left, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, right, rally with Michigan Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed at a campaign event in Detroit, July 18, 2026. Younger voters are more likely to support progressive candidates than their elders, who remember the Jim Crow era and have a strong sense of loyalty to the Democratic establishment. Older Black voters also tend to hold more conservative views on LGBTQ+ issues , as well as issues such as immigration and policing, that put them out of step with progressives.
Keith Williams, a Stevens supporter who chairs the Michigan Democratic Party Black Caucus, says Black voters often take the long view, recognizing that lasting change comes slowly. “You don’t have enough votes in…
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