Abdul El-Sayed’s win proves change is possible for Democrats. His next fight may determine their future

If the progressive wins Michigan’s general election, it could redefine the 2028 presidential contest. If he fails, the establishment will call him a cautionary tale In the final stretch of the state’s Democratic primary for US Senate, Abdul El-Sayed challenged voters at a small event in rural Michigan to think about the message they could send the rest of the country when they cast their ballots. “Who are we? Who do we want to be?” El-Sayed said. “Do we want a state that’s defined by how much money corporations brought in to tell us what we couldn’t have? Or do we want to be a state where we demonstrate to the rest of the country what’s possible when you build a movement of, by and for the people?” On Tuesday, El-Sayed’s vision cleared its first hurdle: he won the primary over moderate congresswoman Haley Stevens, who was backed by the party’s establishment, and tens of millions of dollars in outside spending. His rise, and victory, could serve as a revision to how the political establishment views swing-state politics – not requiring candidates to run from the center, but articulating how you will materially improve people’s lives as the working and middl