AOC sides with Bernie-backed progressive in Senate primary clash with Schumer establishment

Progressive champion Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is taking sides in a high-profile Democratic Senate primary that's seen as the next major showdown between the far left and the party establishment.

Ocasio-Cortez on Thursday endorsed Abdul El-Sayed in battleground Michigan, in the race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters.

El-Sayed, who if elected would make history as the nation's first Muslim senator, has long been backed by another progressive champion, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. He is facing off with two more moderate candidates, including centrist Rep. Haley Stevens, who is tacitly supported by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

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Schumer and the party establishment view Stevens as more electable than El-Sayed, who has sparked controversy with his past comments, in a race that Democrats view as crucial as they aim to win back the Senate majority from the Republicans in this year's midterm elections.

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But Ocasio-Cortez, the four-term firebrand from New York City best known by her initialism AOC, disagreed.

"Despite our ideological differences and whatever disagreements there are in the party, every single one of us sees this moment as existential," she said in a New York Times interview, where she announced the endorsement. "And I think many people are willing to put aside differences in order to give us the best chance at winning. And I think that Abdul gives us that right now."

The endorsement by Ocasio-Cortez, her first this cycle in a contested Democratic Senate primary, could further energize far-left progressive activists who are already heavily supporting El-Sayed. And it will likely be problematic for establishment leaders, who worry El-Sayed as the party's nominee would jeopardize the Democrat-controlled Senate seat by pushing the party too far to the left in a state that President Donald Trump carried two years ago.

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Ocasio-Cortez's endorsement in Michigan comes in the wake of stunning Democratic primary victories the past week and a half by far left and socialist-aligned candidates in showdowns in New York City and Colorado.

The results have emboldened the far left as it takes on the center-left establishment in a high-stakes battle for the future of the party.

In Michigan, which holds its primary on Aug. 4, El-Sayed, an epidemiologist, former public health official and academic who recently served as director of the Department of Health, Human, and Veterans Services of Wayne County, has made support for "Medicare-for-all" a major component of his campaign.

El-Sayed also calls for abolishing ICE, and he's a vocal critic of Israel in its war with Hamas. He has characterized Israel's actions in Gaza as "genocide" against Palestinians.

El-Sayed, who served as a top surrogate on Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign, has also vowed not to accept PAC donations.

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Stevens, meanwhile, has been backed by millions in super PAC spending, including big bucks from Israel-aligned groups.

State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, who has a growing national profile, is the third major candidate in the Democratic Senate primary. She is running as a progressive in an ideological space between El-Sayed and Stevens.

Polling indicates that El-Sayed is the frontrunner in the race.

This isn't the first time Ocasio-Cortez has backed El-Sayed. She also endorsed him for his insurgent but unsuccessful 2018 gubernatorial bid in Michigan.

Sayed, pointing to Ocasio-Cortez's endorsement, told the New York Times, "I’m honored for what her support says about what this campaign is building and what we’re fighting for."

And taking aim at Schumer, he argued that the longtime Democratic Senate leader "doesn’t want to see me on the inside of the U.S. Senate."

The eventual Democratic nominee will face off in the general election with former Rep. Mike Rogers, who is on a glidepath to the Republican nomination.

Rogers, who is running for the Senate for a second straight cycle, narrowly lost in 2024 to now-Sen. Elissa Slotkin.

The leading nonpartisan political handicappers rate the Senate race in Michigan as a toss-up.

The Michigan GOP called the Ocasio-Cortez endorsement "the least surprising political news of the week."

Michigan GOP senior communications adviser Greg Manz argued that "the U.S. Senate in Michigan race is a choice between the crazy agenda of AOC and Abdul El-Sayed or the commonsense values of Michigan working families."