Establishment Democrats in Washington spent over $60 million in support of Rep. Haley Stevens’ bid for the Michigan U.S. Senate nomination. It wasn’t enough.
The messy primary pitting their pick, Stevens, against progressives Abdul El-Sayed and Mallory McMorrow (before she abandoned her bid) saw a record amount of outside spending. AdImpact, which tracks campaign advertising, called the 2026 race the most expensive on the Democrat side in history.
“Stevens (MI-11) has seen a majority of ad support targeting the primary, at $63.9M. In total, 78% of all spending targeting the primary went towards supporting Haley Stevens. Her opponent, El-Sayed has seen $7.5M in ad support. Prior to dropping out, McMorrow saw $9.0M,” said the company in a summary of the race.
The pro-Israel organization AIPAC spent the most of any group, backing Stevens with more than $30 million in spending over the past year. That funding came via United Democracy Project, doubling the amount it spent to defeat former Democrat Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York in 2024.
Stevens’ bid was heavily supported by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
The New York Times wrote in June that Schumer asked party donors to support Stevens, calling her the “strongest candidate” in private conversations and spawned efforts giving her a sizeable edge from big-spending Democrats.
Hellbound and Down 