Former Wayne County Health Director Abdul El-Sayed narrowly defeated Democratic Michigan Rep. Haley Stevens in the Michigan Democratic primary held on Tuesday, August 4th, 2026. Official results released by The Associated Press showed El-Sayed winning with 48.5% of the vote to Stevens' 47.5%.

Prior to the primary, multiple polls had suggested El-Sayed held a significant lead. An Emerson College Polling/WLNS/WOODTV survey from July 30th showed El-Sayed leading Stevens 54% to 39%. A Mitchell Research & Communications poll from late July indicated a 14-point lead for El-Sayed, while a Tavern Research poll showed a 10-point lead, 46% to 36%.

The Emerson College survey noted strong support for El-Sayed among voters under 50 and independents, which contributed to his projected lead.

On the morning following the primary, CNN reported that El-Sayed held a 19,400-vote lead over Stevens as of 6:30 am EDT, which later narrowed to 14,898 votes as more ballots from Wayne County were counted. More than 1.5 million ballots were tallied, marking the highest turnout in a non-presidential Democratic primary in Michigan since at least 1998, according to CNN.

The election results demonstrated a much closer contest than the polls had predicted.

Sources