State Sen. Mallory McMorrow dropped out of the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan on Sunday, leaving a two-way race between Rep. Haley Stevens and former public health official Abdul El-Sayed.
Stevens, who was first elected to the U.S. House in 2018, is the more moderate and centrist-aligned of the two candidates, while El-Sayed, the former Wayne County health director and a 2018 candidate for governor, has staked out the progressive lane. The two will face off in an August 4 primary for the seat opened by the retirement of Democratic Sen. Gary Peters.
On the Republican side, former Rep. Mike Rogers, who narrowly lost the 2024 Senate race to now-Sen. Elissa Slotkin, is running again. GOP Rep. Bill Huizenga, another potential candidate, opted against a run for Senate, clearing the way for Rogers, who has the backing of Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Sen. Tim Scott, chair of Senate Republicans’ campaign arm.
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Michigan is a perennial presidential battleground state: President Donald Trump won it in 2016, former Democratic President Joe Biden put the state back in the Democratic column in 2020 and Trump flipped it back in 2024. But over the last 30 years, the state has consistently elected Democrats to the Senate — the last time the state sent a Republican senator to Washington was 1994.
The state has long been a pipeline for women Democratic leaders, from former Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Rep. Debbie Dingell to Slotkin; Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a potential 2028 presidential candidate; Attorney General Dana Nessel; Rep. Hillary Scholten; and prominent progressive Rep. Rashida Tlaib. Rep. Lisa McClain, the Republican Conference chair in the House, also hails from Michigan.
If Stevens wins the primary and the general, Michigan would add to the number of states represented in the Senate by two women simultaneously. There are currently four such states — Minnesota, New Hampshire, Nevada and Washington.
Republicans currently control the Senate by a 53-47 majority, and senators serve six-year terms, meaning a third of the Senate is up every election cycle. For Democrats to win back the chamber in 2026, they’d need to hold competitive seats in states like Georgia and Michigan while flipping four GOP-held seats in Maine, North Carolina and even more Republican-leaning states like Ohio, Iowa, Nebraska and Texas.
