Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) and former public health official Abdul El-Sayed presented Michigan Democrats with sharply different choices Monday during their final Senate debate before the August 4 primary, clashing over outside spending, corporate political contributions, Israel, immigration, health care, and which candidate was better positioned to defeat Republican Mike Rogers.
The Fox 2 Detroit debate highlighted the divide between Stevens, who is backed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) and Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), and El-Sayed, who has endorsements from Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and the United Auto Workers.
Outside spending and campaign finances dominated much of the debate. Stevens’ campaign and six super PACs backing her have spent more than $61 million on primary ads, according to AdImpact figures shared by CBS. El-Sayed’s campaign and outside groups supporting him have spent more than $15.3 million combined, according to FEC reports cited by CBS.
The New York Times reported that United Democracy Project, AIPAC’s main super PAC, had spent $30.6 million on advertising backing Stevens, while six other super PACs that had not disclosed their donors spent a combined $29.4 million on her behalf.
El-Sayed repeatedly argued that groups spending tens of millions of dollars to support Stevens would expect something in return.
“Sixty million dollars from outside organizations in this race didn’t just go nowhere,” El-Sayed said. “It’s because those exact same organizations expect something on the other side.” He added that they “expect to own your next U.S. senator.”
He also questioned Stevens’ electability without that financial advantage.
“If you need a $60 million crutch, you probably can’t be elected on your own terms,” he said.
Stevens countered that El-Sayed also benefits from Fighting for Michigan PAC, which had spent about $2.4 million as of the debate. She said she did not believe there was “much difference” between super PACs supporting either candidate and pointed to her A grade from End Citizens United and endorsement from Defend the Vote.
The candidates also sparred over contributions connected to DTE Energy and Consumers Energy.
Moderator Roop Raj asked Stevens whether she was taking money from the two utilities for her Senate campaign. Stevens initially deflected, speaking about her transparency and criticism of her voice, before Raj pressed her for a direct answer. She then said no.
The Detroit News reported that Stevens’ House campaign received approximately $63,500 from the utilities’ main political action committees between 2019 and 2025. Her House committee later transferred two $2,500 contributions — one originating from DTE and one from Consumers Energy — to her Senate committee.
After the debate, Stevens said she answered no because Raj had asked specifically about the Senate race. El-Sayed called her response a “frank lie,” arguing that money transferred into her Senate committee had still entered the Senate campaign.
Israel and AIPAC also emerged as central points of disagreement. El-Sayed criticized Stevens for voting against cutting off U.S. aid to Israel and linked the vote to spending by United Democracy Project, AIPAC’s principal super PAC.
“That is the pro quo that comes with the quid of $30 million spent by AIPAC,” El-Sayed said.
Stevens responded by pointing to the super PAC supporting El-Sayed. “I don’t think there’s much difference between super PACs going in for Abdul or super PACs going in for me,” she said.
The candidates also disagreed over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Stevens pointed to her visit to an ICE detention facility and said the agency’s treatment of detainees had become unacceptable.
“I went up to an ICE detention facility to call out and see why people were losing their lives, why they were being held for long periods of time without due process,” Stevens said. “This has been an outrage.”
El-Sayed took a more sweeping position, calling for ICE to be abolished.
“The idea that somehow we can’t say ‘abolish ICE’ because we’re so afraid of what they’re going to say, when we’ve seen ICE terrorize people in our streets, to me, it is exactly the kind of cowardice that we don’t need from Democrats,” he said.
Asked about accusations that he is a socialist, El-Sayed rejected the label and argued that monopolies and oligopolies pose the greatest threat to capitalism.
“I’m not a socialist,” El-Sayed said. “I’m just a capitalist who understands how capitalism works. The biggest threat to capitalism was never the idea of government regulation. It was always monopoly.”
He continued: “I think government ought to be there to regulate on monopolies and oligopolies, so that everybody can actually participate in an economy without having to be forced to pay more or get paid less for the work that they do.”
Elsewhere in the debate, El-Sayed called for eliminating the Senate filibuster, passing the PRO Act, taxing billionaire wealth, strengthening antitrust enforcement, and establishing Medicare for All.
Stevens portrayed El-Sayed as a “celebrity candidate” who viewed the Senate as another step toward higher office, pointing to his podcasts, books, and what she said was a website for a presidential campaign.
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