Abdul El-Sayed is leading in the polls ahead of Michigan’s Aug. 4 Senate primary. If he wins the nomination, Democrats will learn fast whether his politics can win a battleground state.

In 2025, Elissa Slotkin, a Democratic U.S. senator from Michigan, observed the following about her political party: “We’re like a solar system with no sun. We don’t act as a team, and when we don’t work as a team, we turn our guns on each other, and it’s so, so, so, fruitless.”

Fast-forward to now, and the Democratic Party seems to be moving in a distinct direction: far left. Like, socialist left.

From New York to Colorado, newcomer democratic socialists have unseated sitting members of Congress.

But these victories, so far, have come in solidly leftist strongholds. What I’m watching closely is whether a far-left progressive can win in my state of Michigan, a battleground state that helped elect President Donald Trump in both 2016 and 2024.

The Democratic Senate primary here is Aug. 4, and it’s caught the attention of the country because control of the Senate could be decided in the Great Lakes State. Democratic Sen. Gary Peters isn’t running for reelection, giving Republicans a chance to win the seat back.

Democrats must flip four seats to take control of the chamber, and holding Michigan is essential to that math.

To the chagrin of more “moderate” Democrats, candidate Abdul El-Sayed – a former public health official who’s the darling of democratic socialists like Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders – has done remarkably well in the polls, and he’s maintained a lead over more traditional opponents U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow.

McMorrow suspended her campaign on July 5, first reported by The Detroit News, after weak polling numbers and likely pressure from Democratic Party insiders.

If El-Sayed pulls off a primary win, it could signal which sun the Democratic Party is heading toward.

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What works in the primary may not play as well in the general 

But El-Sayed may face bigger challenges if he makes it to the November election.

He’ll face off against Republican Mike Rogers, a former congressman who narrowly lost his 2024 Senate bid to Slotkin.

Michigan hasn’t elected a Republican to the Senate in more than 30 years. Yet while Slotkin is a Democrat through and through, she’s adept at appealing to independents and moderates.

That’s not true of El-Sayed, who has palled around with self-identified Marxist streamer Hasan Piker on the campaign trail, in addition to Sanders.

“El-Sayed joins the list of radical leftists running nationally that will also cause consternation amongst mainstream Democrats,” former Michigan Republican Party Chairman Saul Anuzis told me. “Slotkin has already raised the alarm bells and that probably indicates she’s hearing from her constituency, and El-Sayed will need them as well.” 

Michigan could determine whether Republicans hold their Senate majority – and it’s the GOP’s best shot at flipping a seat outright.

El-Sayed may be able to rally more radical progressives and the anti-Israel base in the primary, but that message will be a tougher sell to Michigan voters as a whole. As Anuzis put it, El-Sayed’s strength in the primary is his weakness in the general.

“If he wins, then more mainstream Democrats, Reagan/Trump Democrats and culturally conservative, working-class independents will have to make a choice,” he said. “I think that greatly helps Rogers.”

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Democratic leadership is shying away from El-Sayed. Will it matter?

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has openly backed Stevens, the sitting congresswoman, in the race. He and other Democrats clearly think she’s best suited to take on Rogers in November. Along those lines, ahead of McMorrow dropping out of the race, retiring Sen. Peters told associates that Democrats need to back one of the more mainstream candidates to oppose El-Sayed, according to The Wall Street Journal. 

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KY3) -Missouri teachers are criticizing Gov. Mike Kehoe’s plan to assign A-F letter grades to the state’s public and charter schools, saying the money would be better spent on classroom learning.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education submitted the proposed A-F School Grading Framework to the governor’s office in response to his January executive order. The order directs DESE to create yearly A-F grade cards reflecting student outcomes.

Under the framework, DESE would produce annual grade cards for districts, schools, and charter schools. Grades would be based on scores from students’ Missouri Assessment Program tests and college-readiness exams, including the ACT and SAT.

For Kindergarten through middle schools, grades would factor in student academic achievement, value-added growth, and growth toward proficiency in English Language Arts, literacy, mathematics, and science. High school grades would also include Success Ready Graduate measures and four-year graduation rates.

DESE Interim Commissioner of Education Stacey Preis, PhD, said the framework is designed to give families a clearer picture of school performance.

“The goal for the A–F school grading framework is to provide families and communities with a simple, comparable, and rigorous picture of school performance,” Preis said.DESE plans to present the proposal to the State Board of Education in August. If approved, schools could receive their first grades under the new system in the spring of 2027. The plan remains subject to change based on any revisions requested during the review process.

Setting up the program would cost $1.2 million in the first year and $715,000 each year after that. That money has not been allocated in the current state budget. That money was not allocated in the fiscal year 2027 state budget, which began July 1. The Missouri State Teachers Association said the funds should go elsewhere.

“We’re currently underfunding schools by almost $200 million, and so I think priority number one should be to make sure that we’re fully funding schools to meet the needs of those students,” said Matt Michelson of the Missouri State Teachers Association.

Michelson also questioned the emphasis on standardized testing.

“I think Missourians have wanted to move away from high-stakes testing, and to place even more emphasis on those one-time statewide tests is really concerning for a community as they look at how they can best educate their students,” Michelson said.

Kehoe said the grading system is about transparency and improvement, not punishment.

“It’s not to admonish any school; it’s to give everybody a target on how do you all get to a better level,” Kehoe said. “You have to know where you stand if you’re going to improve, and you have to have some sort of measuring tool, and that’s what A through F is.”

A bill to codify the plan into state law failed during the most recent legislative session. Kehoe said he wants to see it return.

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