The Establishment’s $98 Million Failure
Michigan voters refused to let party insiders and outside groups decide the primary for them.
Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary this morning, 48.5% to 47.5%, with 99% of the vote counted. Mallory McMorrow, who dropped out weeks ago, still pulled 4%. It was close, but El-Sayed beat Haley Stevens, Chuck Schumer’s preferred candidate. Call it El-Sayed’s win if you want, but its implications are bigger than that. It is a real blow to Schumer’s waning power as Senate Minority Leader.
AdImpact clocked $98.2 million in ads and reserved air through the end of July, the third most expensive Senate primary in American history. Most of it was aimed at one man. It was money lost.
Schumer was already the least popular leader his party has. His approval sits at 28% approve to 47% disapprove, the worst net rating of any leader in Congress. Michigan is what that weakness looks like spent out in the open. A leader this unpopular, who loses this expensively with this much of the party’s money, has run out of the one thing leadership requires. He should step down.
Democrats Tried to Control This Outcome
