The hard-fought Democratic Senate primary in Michigan, which pits Dr. Abdul El-Sayed against Representative Haley Stevens, has often been described as a battle over whether the Democratic Party should move to the left or the center as well as a referendum on Israel.<\/p>\n
But what was on the minds of voters on Tuesday as they cast their ballots?<\/p>\n
Pre-primary polling on which issues have been motivating voters, while limited, pointed to a Democratic primary electorate that was deeply concerned about the economy and President Trump. Issues related to Israel, Gaza or the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which opposes Dr. El-Sayed and has spent heavily on the race supporting Ms. Stevens, were not cited among top concerns.<\/p>\n
Nineteen percent of likely Democratic primary voters listed opposition to Mr. Trump and Republicans as the main motivation for their vote in a recent Detroit News\/ WDIV-TV poll<\/a>. Effectively tied for first place, at 18 percent, were concerns about the economy and the cost of living. A small but sizable share \u2014 12 percent \u2014 said they were focused on electing Democrats and taking back control of the U.S. Senate.<\/p>\n Here are the issues that some voters said they were motivated by:<\/p>\n Health care<\/p>\n Sarah Swider, 54, a professor at Wayne State University, said she was concerned that too many people lacked access to health care and that she was voting for Dr. El-Sayed. \u201cWe are one of the richest nations in the world, if not the richest,\u201d she said. Ms. Swider added that in other countries she has lived in, \u201cthey all have health care for all.\u201d<\/p>\n The economy and the cost of living<\/p>\n Delilah Reynolds Fields, a 56-year-old bakery owner in Detroit, said the price of gas and other rising costs of living were having a \u201cvery direct\u201d effect on her business and were the biggest factor in her voting decisions.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel the impact,\u201d she said, adding, \u201cI think it\u2019s affecting everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n She has voted for Democrats and Republicans, she added, saying that she feels \u201cpolitically homeless\u201d and that the Democratic Party takes voters like her for granted. But she voted for Kamala Harris in 2024, she said. This year, she has a \u201cpretty strong sense\u201d that she will vote for Democrats in November. She declined to say whom she voted for Tuesday.<\/p>\n Opposition to President Trump<\/p>\n Regina Mines, 61, of Detroit said her biggest concern was a sense that Mr. Trump was \u201chumiliating\u201d the United States internationally and dividing the country domestically. His second term has, in her view, been far worse than his first, she added, citing his politicization of the Justice Department and the war with Iran, among other issues.<\/p>\n \u201cWe look really bad around the world, and the office is not being upheld like it should be,\u201d said Ms. Mines, a retiree who had worked in health insurance. \u201cI\u2019m embarrassed about his language. The way he carries himself. The way he talks about people. It\u2019s just embarrassing.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms. Mines said she voted for Ms. Stevens for Senate because of how she had helped the auto industry under the administration of Barack Obama, her favorite president.<\/p>\n Data centers<\/p>\n Jack Gruszczynski, 34, a museum educator at the Detroit Institute of Arts, said he was focused on one issue: limiting data centers in Michigan.<\/p>\n \u201cI really feel like Gretchen Whitmer, who\u2019s a governor who I\u2019ve loved for most of her time here, has really failed Michiganders in the last few months of her time by allowing data centers to come into the state,\u201d said Mr. Gruszczynski. (Ms. Whitmer pushed for a law<\/a> that offered tax incentives for data centers.) He said he was voting for Dr. El-Sayed on Tuesday, but that in November he could be open to supporting a Republican for the first time if one had a strong stance against data centers.<\/p>\n Israel and AIPAC<\/p>\n While Israel and Gaza did not necessarily show up as particularly motivating to voters in polling results, that may be a reflection of the polling landscape in this primary. Most polls did not even ask voters about their top issues, and the ones that did so asked in a limited fashion.<\/p>\n AIPAC spent more than $30 million on ads and outreach to promote Ms. Stevens, who has been supportive of Israel, over Dr. El-Sayed, who has said he believes that Israel has committed a genocide in Gaza.<\/p>\n