{"id":468595,"date":"2026-02-14T17:35:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T17:35:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/468595\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T17:35:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T17:35:07","slug":"in-michigan-3-democrats-test-vision-of-affordability-in-the-senate-primary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/468595\/","title":{"rendered":"In Michigan, 3 Democrats test vision of affordability in the Senate primary"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAGINAW, Mich. (AP) \u2014 When Donald Trump<\/a> fought his way back to the White House in 2024, he capitalized on simmering economic discontent in political battlegrounds such as Michigan. Now Democrats are trying to harness those same concerns, which have lingered as people across the country lose confidence<\/a> in the Republican president\u2019s ability to ease the cost of living. <\/p>\n

The only question is how to do it. That nationwide challenge is especially urgent in Michigan, where three Democrats are running in the U.S. Senate primary in August.<\/p>\n

The candidates \u2014 U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens<\/a>, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow<\/a> and physician Abdul El-Sayed<\/a> \u2014 are making different pitches to voters, and their success or failure will help determine the party\u2019s fortunes in the November midterm elections, when control of Congress is at stake.<\/p>\n

The party\u2019s chances of winning back control of the Senate will become much harder without retaining the seat held by retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters.<\/a><\/p>\n

The likely Republican nominee is Mike Rogers<\/a>, a former congressman seeking a Senate seat for the second time. In 2024, he lost by 19,000 votes to Democrat Elissa Slotkin,<\/a> who moved from the House to the Senate.<\/p>\n

Stevens leans into Michigan manufacturing<\/p>\n

Wearing a welding helmet and gloves, Stevens moved in close toward flying sparks as a plumbing apprentice showed off his welding technique at a union training workshop in Saginaw. <\/p>\n

Her suburban Detroit district is part of the automobile hub central to Michigan\u2019s economy and workforce. She is building off her relationships with organized labor and campaigning against Trump\u2019s tariff strategy, saying the president is hurting the state\u2019s manufacturing sector and driving up prices across the board. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been more focused on cutting deals all over the world than cutting deals here in Michigan, and now we have job insecurity and in some cases job loss,\u201d Stevens said in an interview.<\/p>\n

Stevens introduced herself to students at their work stations and asked questions about their projects, such as carefully connecting pipes with tightly fitted grooves as an alternative to welding.<\/p>\n

At one station, three apprentices showed the congresswoman paper sketches of plumbing construction designs. She told them how important their careers will be as existing infrastructure ages. She promised that she will find the money to hire people to fix it. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe like that,\u201d said one student.<\/p>\n

After the tour, Stevens sat around a table with union leaders. Speaking over whirring machinery, she sympathized with the complexity of providing health care benefits.<\/p>\n

Justin Pomerville, the business manager at UA Local 85, said that the \u201cfar left\u201d and the \u201cfar right\u201d are failing to improve things in politics, a complaint that dovetailed with Stevens\u2019 efforts to pitch herself as a moderate. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is why I like walking a day in people\u2019s shoes,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

McMorrow talks up Michigan policy<\/p>\n

A crowd of Democrats recently packed into a dimly lit side room of Churchill\u2019s Food & Sprits in downtown Flint. \u201cJesse\u2019s Girl\u201d played over the speakers as McMorrow\u2019s team shuffled chairs to squeeze in a few more people before she took to the microphone. <\/p>\n

The lawmaker has hosted campaign stops at various breweries around the state. Her favorite beer is a blood orange honey ale from the Cheybogan Brewing Co.<\/p>\n

She got into politics after Trump\u2019s victory in 2016, and she was first elected in 2018. McMorrow is in the state Senate\u2019s Democratic leadership and has gained national recognition for a few viral moments in recent years, including bringing a Project 2025 prop<\/a> to the party\u2019s national convention in 2024. She is running with a new motivation this time around for the sake of her 5-year-old daughter. <\/p>\n

\u201cLike any parent, I am thinking a lot about what tomorrow looks like,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

One of her goals is expanding a Michigan program<\/a> that helps mothers with new children by giving them cash grants. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen something\u2019s working, you expand on it,\u201d McMorrow said in an interview. \u201cI think there\u2019s a huge opportunity where Michigan has done a lot of things right that we can ensure every American benefits from.\u201d <\/p>\n

Karen Breasbois, a former farmer, asked McMorrow what she would do about Trump\u2019s tariffs that have hurt soybean operations<\/a>. McMorrow promised to listen to rural communities, not act like a \u201cmissionary\u201d like other Democrats from liberal urban areas. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe need another Debbie Stabenow,\u201d Breasbois said in an interview, referencing Michigan\u2019s longtime agriculture champion in the U.S. Senate who retired in early 2025. \u201cMallory, she\u2019s got that spunk.\u201d <\/p>\n

El-Sayed focuses on health care costs<\/p>\n

El-Sayed, a physician and former county health official, delivered a diagnosis for the cost of living problem at a recent town hall: corporate greed. <\/p>\n

About 100 people turned out at a community college in Detroit in late January on a brutally cold night. El-Sayed, who finished far behind the current governor, Gretchen Whitmer<\/a>, in the 2018 Democratic primary for that office<\/a>, led the crowd in a chant he uses to begin and end his rallies: \u201cMoney out of politics, money in your pocket, Medicare for all.\u201d<\/p>\n

El-Sayed has long campaigned for Medicare for all, a slogan that champions universal health care. In recent weeks, he has started adding an asterisk, saying that people should be able to obtain additional coverage from their union or employer. <\/p>\n

The discussion at the gathering often circled back to the high cost of health care, something he chalks up to corporate entities and their lobbying powers. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn an era where union membership is near an all-time low and in an era where inequality is near an all-time high, we have to recognize that these two things are not a coincidence, they are one in the same problem,\u201d he said from a small stage where campaign staff and volunteers filmed from multiple angles for social media. <\/p>\n

In an interview, El-Sayed said he has been talking about the cost of living for years, while other candidates, Democrats and Republicans alike, are just now getting on board with the affordability focus. <\/p>\n

Natasha VanGessel, a medical assistant from Royal Oak who sat in one of the first rows at the town hall, has followed El-Sayed since he ran for governor in 2018 and regularly tunes into his podcast, called America Dissected. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s very well thought out, very intelligent,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd really, I think, has some good ideas.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAGINAW, Mich. (AP) \u2014 When Donald Trump fought his way back to the White House in 2024, he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":468596,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[164749,21491,23,28,217853,12,8876,1070,28866,38003,3138,8633,2601,217855,217854,1305,1303,170164,21486,217852,3,21490,200479,8638,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":{"0":"post-468595","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-2026-elections","9":"tag-abdul-el-sayed","10":"tag-america","11":"tag-business","12":"tag-debbie-stabenow","13":"tag-donald-trump","14":"tag-economic-indicators","15":"tag-elections","16":"tag-elissa-slotkin","17":"tag-gary-peters","18":"tag-government-and-politics","19":"tag-gretchen-whitmer","20":"tag-health-care-industry","21":"tag-justin-pomerville","22":"tag-karen-breasbois","23":"tag-mi-state-wire","24":"tag-michigan","25":"tag-midterm-elections","26":"tag-mike-rogers","27":"tag-natasha-vangessel","28":"tag-news","29":"tag-senate-elections","30":"tag-send-to-apple-news","31":"tag-u-s-democratic-party","32":"tag-united-states","33":"tag-united-states-of-america","34":"tag-unitedstates","35":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","36":"tag-us","37":"tag-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468595\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}