The August primary is over, and Michigan candidates, voters and pundits are looking ahead to the general election in November.
WKAR’s politics reporter Andrew Roth was out late on election night at campaign events for Democratic gubernatorial Jocelyn Benson and Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed in Detroit.
He spoke WKAR's Sophia Saliby Wednesday after being out in the field with candidates.
Interview Highlights
On the progressive wins during the primary
The progressive wing of the Democratic Party did have a pretty good night. Their preferred candidate for U.S. Senate, Abdul El-Sayed won the nomination, and they also won in a couple key U.S. House races, including one challenging an incumbent member of Congress in Metro Detroit. You know, there were some questions about whether progressive wins at a party convention this spring could be replicated on a statewide ballot like a primary, and progressives did end up notching some major victories last night, but the Senate race was a lot closer than some polls suggested it might be, and one of the House candidates won with only a plurality of votes. So, progressives will have some work to do to turn these into general election victories.
On why there was so much national focus on Michigan during the primary
Michigan is a really demographically and geographically diverse state, and it's sort of a microcosm of the country in that way. It's also a very important state politically to win for presidential candidates and for either party's hopes of controlling the U.S. Senate or U.S. House, and so, I think everyone is sort of watching our elections pretty closely to see what happens here. You know, progressives won a lot of the Democratic nominations, and certainly Democrats are taking note of that. But they could still lose the general election, and Democrats are sort of trying to figure out who they are as a party ahead of 2028
On what'll he be watching for in the short-term
I think I'm curious to see who Benson and Congressman John James are going to choose as their running mates? Both are obviously known entities in Michigan politics. Benson has been Secretary of State, but they're strangers to the State Capitol. They don't have that legislating experience, so they may want to pick governing partners who have those relationships built up and sort of know those levers of power and can help get their agenda passed.
Interview Transcript
Sophia Saliby: The August primary is over, and Michigan candidates, voters and pundits are looking ahead to the general election in November.
WKAR’s Politics reporter Andrew Roth was out late last night at two campaign events, and he joins us now from the field. Hi Andrew, how’s it going?
Andrew Roth: I'm tired, Sophia, but we're diving right into the general election, and it's going to be a busy few months.
Saliby: I know that's right. So, the dust has settled on the primary. What would you say were the big themes coming out of results?
Roth: Yeah, well, the progressive wing of the Democratic Party did have a pretty good night. Their preferred candidate for U.S. Senate, Abdul El-Sayed won the nomination, and they also won in a couple key U.S. House races, including one challenging an incumbent member of Congress in Metro Detroit.
You know, there were some questions about whether progressive wins at a party convention this spring could be replicated on a statewide ballot like a primary, and progressives did end up notching some major victories last night, but the Senate race was a lot closer than some polls suggested it might be, and one of the House candidates won with only a plurality of votes. So, progressives will have some work to do to turn these into general election victories.
Saliby: Like we mentioned, things are already getting started in this general election campaign, candidates are back on the trail. What's been going on?
Roth: Yeah, Jocelyn Benson is hitting the campaign trail today to kick off her general election campaign for governor. So unlike the Senate race, her victory in the primary was called almost as soon as the polls closed in Michigan.
And she says she wants another landslide victory in November for not just herself, but everyone else on the Democratic ticket with her, and she's really been focusing on trying to have those coattails that other candidates can kind of you know, have her carry them over the finish line.
Saliby: We should note there were plenty of other events today. Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Abdul El-Sayed celebrated his victory this morning with former Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow, who introduced him, as well as Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel. So a lot of coalescing around him.
Michigan 7th Congressional District Democrat Will Lawrence, who won last night over two moderates, was out talking with local nurses and calling out federal healthcare cuts, and a lot of the statewide Republican candidates all came together to speak to voters and supporters this morning as well.
And you know, a lot more of these high-profile races, this primary, have been on the Democratic side. Are we going to see a lot more Republican messaging heading into the general?
Roth: Yeah. Well, one of the Republican gubernatorial candidates, Perry Johnson, did pour around $30 million into his campaign, so his ads have been blanketing the airwaves already. But certainly, campaigning in a general election is quite a bit different than a primary, and that's something that candidates like El-Sayed, who haven't run in a general election before are going to have to adapt to.
The campaign arm of President Donald Trump is already sending messaging about El-Sayed's calls to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, so they will have to adapt to the more contentious general election.
Saliby: These elections have become part of a national conversation about American politics, why do you think that is?
Roth: Michigan is a really demographically and geographically diverse state, and it's sort of a microcosm of the country in that way. It's also a very important state politically to win for presidential candidates and for either party's hopes of controlling the U.S. Senate or U.S. House, and so, I think everyone is sort of watching our elections pretty closely to see what happens here.
You know, progressives won a lot of the Democratic nominations, and certainly Democrats are taking note of that. But they could still lose the general election, and Democrats are sort of trying to figure out who they are as a party ahead of 2028 and how things go in Michigan could send a big signal to national Democrats about that, especially as Michigan is also home to several possible presidential candidates.
Saliby: And what are you going to be watching out for in the next 90 days? I can't believe it's 90 days until November 3.
Roth: Yeah, it'll fly by, but in the short term, I think I'm curious to see who Benson and Congressman John James are going to choose as their running mates? Both are obviously known entities in Michigan politics. Benson has been Secretary of State, but they're strangers to the State Capitol.
They don't have that legislating experience, so they may want to pick governing partners who have those relationships built up and sort of know those levers of power and can help get their agenda passed.
Saliby: Andrew Roth is our lead politics reporter here in the WKAR newsroom. Thank you for joining us, and I hope you can get some sleep soon.
Roth: Happy to be here.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
