Abdul El-Sayed wins Michigan Senate primary in major victory for Democrats’ progressive wing

DETROIT (AP) — Abdul El-Sayed has won Michigan’s Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, narrowly defeating U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens in a victory for the party’s progressive wing in a battleground state.

“In the words of Muhammad Ali, we shook up the world,” El-Sayed told supporters Wednesday morning.

The real test of El-Sayed’s and progressives’ strength will now come in a November matchup against Mike Rogers, a former congressman who ran unopposed for the Republican nomination. The seat is pivotal to Democrats’ chances of flipping the Senate and El-Sayed will face the challenge of uniting a divided Democratic base after a bruising primary.

Stevens called El-Sayed to concede Wednesday, and she issued a statement saying she would back El-Sayed’s candidacy.

“I am proud to offer my support as he takes on Mike Rogers in the general election,” she said.

Stevens added, “This was a thorough and rigorous campaign that brought out the full span of views within the Democratic Party — and that is why we have primaries.”

Curtis Hertel, the chair of Michigan Democratic Party, urged unity ahead of November.

“We have got to work together to take this country back,” Hertel said.

“I can tell you what we need is a fighter,” he added. “Abdul El-Sayed has been a fighter for the people over and over again.”

The Associated Press declared El-Sayed the winner after confirming that after Wednesday morning updates in election returns in Wayne and Oakland counties, two of the state’s largest in the Detroit area in southeastern Michigan, that there were simply not enough votes left to count that would allow Stevens to catch up and overtake him as the leader.

After confidently predicting a win, El-Sayed’s victory was ultimately so narrow that it wasn’t assured until almost all ballots cast statewide were counted. At the time AP declared him the winner, El-Sayed led Stevens by 14,893 votes — a margin of just under 1 percentage point — out of more than 1.5 million ballots counted.

El-Sayed’s win, however slim, represents a significant shift for the Democratic Party; in 2018 he lost the gubernatorial primary to now-Gov. Gretchen Whitmer by 21 percentage points.

The former health official campaigned on “Medicare for All,” halting military aid to Israel and campaign finance reform. He had support from progressive leaders including Sen. Bernie Sanders and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who framed the race as a grassroots-focused movement and a broader fight against the establishment and big-money spending.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, another progressive leader, said El-Sayed's victory “should be a wake-up call to the Washington Democratic establishment.”

Sen. Gary Peters, the Michigan Democrat whose retirement spurred the contentious primary to replace him, said, “Congratulations to him.” Peters had endorsed Stevens.

Now comes the more difficult challenge for Democrats: uniting the party to defeat Rogers, for whom Republicans have already reserved large sums of money ahead of the general election.

Tuesday evening, El-Sayed’s supporters in Detroit’s Majestic Theatre cheered as the first few batches of results came in, before mellowing. Hours later Stevens’ previously subdued partygoers roared as she narrowed the margin.

“Whatever happens tonight,” El-Sayed told a thinned but still energetic crowd, “we have a responsibility to ensure that we unite, unite to make sure that Mike Rogers never sees the inside of the U.S. Senate.”

Stevens, a four-term congresswoman, focused on manufacturing and the economy. She stressed her past victories in tough races, saying she would be best positioned to beat Rogers.

Stevens benefited from tens of millions of dollars in outside spending, including the largest investment in a race ever from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which supports pro-Israel candidates.

The race will help decide which party controls the chamber in the last two years of President Donald Trump’s term. Those stakes have added heat to the rivalry, with moderates arguing that El-Sayed would have a harder time than Stevens against a Republican in the general election.

Stevens won election to Congress in 2018 after serving as chief of staff to President Barack Obama’s auto task force, which helped oversee the federal rescue of General Motors and Chrysler. Her campaign and allied groups have repeatedly highlighted that experience.

El-Sayed cast himself as the anti-establishment candidate and argued that Democrats need to reject corporate influence and embrace a more progressive agenda.

While the candidate has said he is not a democratic socialist, he found support from some of the group’s members. That included Melat Kiros, who recently beat a longtime incumbent in a Democratic primary for a Denver-based House seat and was at El-Sayed’s watch party. Also there was Hasan Piker, a progressive and controversial influencer online.

The candidates’ differences were clear to some voters.

Kenneth Woodside, 87, of West Bloomfield, said he voted for El-Sayed over Stevens because “the nation is ready for someone who wants to take some more action rather than on the road we are now, which is on the road to an oligarchy and authoritarianism.”

Nessa Fuller, 51, of Birmingham, said she voted for Stevens because she will “fight to get the right things done, and she’ll work with other people, which is really important to me.”

National groups poured unprecedented sums into the race, making it one of the country’s biggest tests of outside spending.

Groups backing Stevens spent more than $50 million, led by more than $30 million from AIPAC and its affiliates.

“We took on a machine,” El-Sayed said.

AIPAC issued a statement on Wednesday saying they would oppose El-Sayed and “his radical anti-Israel agenda” in November’s election.

The organizations' spending ensured Israel remained at the center of the race. While El-Sayed called for ending military aid to Israel, Stevens maintained strong support for the relationship.

Support for Israel is contentious within the Democratic Party. Israel has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians in Gaza since the militant group Hamas killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages in southern Israel in October 2023.

In a heavily Democratic district representing Detroit, the 13th, state Rep. Donavan McKinney defeated Rep. Shri Thanedar. McKinney argued that the city should once again have a Black representative in Congress.

After Thanedar won election in 2022, Detroit had no Black representation in Congress for the first time since the early 1950s.

Associated Press reporters Nathan Ellgren in Washington and Jesse Bedayn in Detroit contributed.

Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive candidate in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan, speaks during a primary election night event Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, at the Majestic Theatre in Detroit. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Attendees hold signs for Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., a candidate in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan, during a primary election night event Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Former Sen. Debbie Stabenow, left, Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., a candidate in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan, center left, and Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Mich., hold hands on stage during a primary election night event Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., a candidate in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan, right, hugs an attendee during a primary election night event Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive candidate in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan, speaks during a primary election night event Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, at the Majestic Theatre in Detroit. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

CAIRO (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could come as early as Wednesday, as Iran and Oman inched toward an agreement on the critical waterway that could ease pressure on the global economy and potentially help bring an end to the war.

The U.S., along with Israel, launched the war on Feb. 28, citing various goals including toppling Tehran’s government and ending its nuclear program. But the conflict has devolved into a fight over the strait as Iranian threats and attacks on shipping ground traffic through the waterway to a halt.

Closure of the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas once passed, has driven up the price of fuel and basic goods far beyond the region, roiling the global economy. Trump is also under mounting pressure to end an unpopular war ahead of midterm congressional elections.

The U.S. president was asked by reporters traveling with him in California about a report on the Axios news site that an announcement on the Strait of Hormuz could be made on Wednesday.

“It could happen. Tomorrow or the next day,” he said, speaking Tuesday evening California time. “A lot of progress has been made.”

Oil prices initially eased on hopes of a deal that would allow shipping to resume but later inched upward. Brent crude, the international standard, was around $80 per barrel on Wednesday — still well below the levels it hit at the height of the conflict.

The U.S. and Iran reached a deal to open the strait in June, only for attacks to resume. In recent days, Trump has again alternately threatened massive strikes and voiced support for diplomatic efforts.

Iranian and Omani negotiators have finalized the draft deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and are awaiting a final approval from Iran’s supreme leader, two regional officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The officials, who were briefed on the negotiations, portrayed the potential deal as a temporary solution to the U.S.-Iranian dispute over vessels’ transit through the Strait of Hormuz. They said it is tied to the agreement reached between the U.S. and Iran in June that aimed at ending the fighting and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, but which ultimately collapsed.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter, said the potential deal will pave the way for the U.S. and Iran to resume negotiations to reach a final deal on Tehran’s nuclear program.

Earlier, they had said the possible agreement between Iran and Oman calls for ships to enter the Persian Gulf through an Iranian-controlled route and exit through a route controlled by Oman. Service fees would be charged for providing security and preserving the maritime environment, the officials said.

Oman and Iran have not officially commented.

The Trump administration has previously ruled out any deal that would give Iran control over the strait, which was an open international waterway before the war, but has seen traffic reduced to a trickle.

Trump has reiterated his public opposition to tolls being charged. “I’m not going to let them charge,” Trump said on Monday. “Anybody’s going to charge, we’ll charge.”

Even as hopes increased that a deal on the Strait of Hormuz could be imminent, attacks on shipping in the region continued.

The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels claimed Wednesday they had fired ballistic missiles toward a Saudi oil tanker called the Wafa in the Red Sea. Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a military spokesman for the Houthis, said in a prerecorded statement that the vessel was targeted off the Saudi port city of Yanbu. He didn’t provide evidence.

There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia.

The attack is part of a recent escalation between the rebels and Saudi Arabia that threatened to reignite Yemen's civil war, which pitted the Houthis against a Saudi-led coalition supporting the country’s government.

In July, the Houthis announced they were closing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that leads to the Red Sea for Saudi-linked shipping. That puts additional pressure on international shipping since the Red Sea became a key alternative route for Saudi oil exports during the war.

On Tuesday, an Indian-flagged commercial ship sank in the Red Sea off Yemen after being struck by an explosive-laden boat, Yemeni and Indian authorities said. Yemen’s coast guard rescued the crew, which included 13 Indians and a Yemeni. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Earlier Tuesday, a cargo ship reported being “hit by an unknown projectile” about 37 kilometers (23 miles) northeast of the Omani port city of Al Khasab in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center.

Meanwhile, the already shaky ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah grew more volatile Wednesday, as the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning to residents of the southern Lebanese village of Mansouri — the first such warning in weeks. Israel said that it was in response to Hezbollah’s violation of the ceasefire agreement between them, which had largely held since June 20.

In a post on X in Arabic, Israeli military spokesperson Lt. Col. Ella Waweya told residents to evacuate their homes immediately and move at least 1,000 meters north of the village. Later, the Israeli military said it had begun conducting “precise strikes” in southern Lebanon in response to what it described as “a blatant violation of the ceasefire” by Hezbollah.

Separately, the United Nations’ human rights chief, Volker Türk, criticized what he said was an increase in executions and death sentences in Iran since March.

Türk said capital punishment is being used to instill fear and suppress dissent.

At least 56 people have been executed since March 19, he said, including 27 who were convicted in cases linked to anti-government protests that occurred across the country at the start of the year. Türk said that more than 100 more were at risk of execution on similar charges.

“Persistent lack of fair trial and due process guarantees are deeply troubling,” Türk said, alleging that confessions have been obtained under torture and ill-treatment, while saying some executions have reportedly been carried out in public and some only weeks after the suspect was arrested.

Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece, and Superville from Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Aamer Madhani and Matthew Lee in Washington also contributed.

President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

FILE - Cargo ships are seen at sea near the Strait of Hormuz, as viewed from a rocky shoreline near Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair, File)

President Donald Trump walks to board Air Force One, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)