‘Organized People Can Beat Organized Money’: Lawrence Wins Michigan House Primary After Harnessing Opposition to Data Centers
Lawrence said his win showed that voters “are tired of Silicon Valley billionaires and DC insiders determining the future of our towns and our country.”
William Lawrence, a cofounder of the Sunrise Movement and Democratic candidate for the US House of Representatives in Michigan, holds a sign at a rally in support of a data center moratorium in Lansing on July 13, 2026.
(Photo by William Lawrence for Congress)
Stephen Prager
Aug 05, 2026
COMMON DREAMS
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed was not the only Michigan progressive to take down a well-funded establishment opponent in a Democratic primary on Tuesday night.
In central Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, Democratic voters picked William Lawrence, a co-founder of the youth-led Sunrise Movement climate activist group, to represent them over two centrist candidates—retired Navy SEAL Matt Maasdam and former ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink—as the party seeks to flip one of the nation’s most vulnerable GOP-controlled seats in November.
Many of the same obstacles El-Sayed faced en route to his party’s Senate nomination were also faced by Lawrence, who triumphed over a split opposition with nearly 44% of the vote on Tuesday.
He faced over $4.5 million in outside spending aimed at defeating him and boosting his opponents, according to Federal Election Commission filings, including over $1 million from a pass-through group for Democratic Majority for Israel.
While rejecting corporate PAC money, Lawrence championed Medicare for All, legislation to curb money in politics, and an end to arms sales to Israel.
But he also distinguished himself by harnessing voters’ growing fear and frustration with the expansion of artificial intelligence data centers, framing them as an imposition by unaccountable “tech billionaires” without regard for the public’s concerns about rising energy prices, diminishing water supplies, and pollution.
According to Politico’s E&E News, 12 data centers are already operating or have been proposed in Michigan’s 7th District alone. In contrast with his opponents, Lawrence took the clearest position on the issue, calling for a 12-month federal moratorium on new data-center construction and joining local opposition movements as proposed sites sprang up across his district.
“Tonight the people of Michigan’s 7th District sent a clear message: They are tired of Silicon Valley billionaires and DC insiders determining the future of our towns and our country,” Lawrence said in a statement following his victory. “They want an unbought representative who isn’t afraid to stand up to leaders of both parties and fight for working people.”
Lawrence will seek to knock off first-term Republican Rep. Tom Barrett in November’s general election, whom the Cook Political Report describes as one of the most vulnerable GOP incumbents as Democrats seek to flip the House.
While Democratic politicians have been much more vocal opponents of data centers, stopping the expansion of the facilities has proven to be a bipartisan issue among the electorate, including in Michigan.
In an April poll sponsored by the Detroit Regional Chamber, 55% of likely general election voters said they’d oppose a data center within 25 miles of their home, while just 33% said they’d be open to it. While nearly two-thirds of Democrats expressed opposition, so did more than half of Republicans.
It’s likely that fierce opposition to data centers will remain central to Lawrence’s broader message about fighting a cost-of-living crisis increasingly tied to an unpopular President Donald Trump.
“I think anyone who has concerns should come out and knock on doors,” Lawrence recently told The New York Times when asked about his ability to garner support from swing voters. “What they’ll hear is people are furious about data centers. Trump voters are getting off the Trump train because of Iran. Nobody could afford the essentials. They’re sick of corporate-funded politicians. That’s why we’ve built the momentum.”
Like El-Sayed’s battle with Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers, Lawrence’s bid to oust Barrett, a MAGA hardliner with a deep stable of wealthy backers, will prove yet another front in the ongoing war between the insurgent left wing of the Democratic Party and its establishment over whether tacking to the center is necessary to win competitive races against Republicans.
Lawrence’s win is also a victory for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who campaigned with him, El-Sayed, and the progressive Michigan state Rep. Donovan McKinney, who ousted incumbent US Rep. Shri Thanedar on Tuesday in the 13th Congressional district in Detroit.
Lawrence, whose campaign knocked on over 100,000 doors across the district during the primary, said his victory on Tuesday night showed that “only organized people can beat organized money.”
Michigan Primary: How Standing Up to Israeli Genocide Could Win Democrats Congress in November
What we are observing today is not just a minor shift in national American politics. It is a tectonic realignment.
Michigan Democratic Senate primary winner Abdul El-Sayed speaks during a press conference in front of the Spirit of Detroit statue on August 05, 2026 in Detroit, Michigan. Sayed called on Michiganders to unite against Mike Rodgers as well as challenging him to multiple debates.
(Photo by Finn Gomez/Getty Images)Common Dreams
At 2 a.m. Michigan time early Wednesday morning, NBC projected that AIPAC’s preferred candidate was on her way to look for a new job. US Rep. Haley Stevens’ defeat in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary is the last nail in AIPAC’s coffin. The once-feared Israel lobby is sinking, along with Israel, like a stone in American public opinion. Despite sixty-to-one spending against Abdul El-Sayed, Stevens couldn’t keep her head above water. AIPAC and its Israel-first billionaire funders turned Michigan into the most expensive Democratic Senate primary in American history and lost anyway.
Just think about it for a second: a PAC that backs a conservative candidate who champions tax cuts for billionaires in one congressional district while simultaneously bankrolling a liberal, like Stevens, who wants to tax the wealthy in another is not advancing a coherent American political interest. If the only principle uniting those otherwise incongruent endorsements is unwavering support for Israel, then the PAC is driven not by a domestic ideology or constituency, but by a foreign policy agenda.
Now, after spending millions to elect a Democrat, Stevens, AIPAC is all but certain to pour millions more into backing Mike Rogers, the Republican candidate, in November—not for the sake of Michiganders or Americans, but for Israel. That is the essence of AIPAC: partisan differences are irrelevant so long as the candidate serves Tel Aviv’s interests.
The Democratic establishment squandered its remaining credibility kowtowing to AIPAC, the most powerful foreign lobby, widening the chasm between the Democratic base and its leadership. AIPAC funding and endorsements from Democratic leaders like Chuck Schumer and Gretchen Whitmer carried little weight in Democratic primaries.
Ask Rep. Adriano Espaillat of New York. Ask Dan Goldman, also of New York. Ask Diana DeGette, a 15-term Colorado congresswoman who represented Denver since Bill Clinton’s first term. All three lost their seats in the same six weeks, and all three— and despite AIPAC backing—lost for the same reason: they stood with Israel, or wouldn’t say the word “genocide,” while their own voters had moved on without them. In Michigan, the Democratic establishment’s endorsements, and its push to have State Senator Mallory McMorrow drop from the race to consolidate the anti-El-Sayed “Democratic” vote, failed on its face. This is further evidence that the party’s base and its leadership are living in two different universes when it comes to Israel.
For seven decades, unconditional support for Israel was table stakes in Democratic politics; the safe position that kept Israel-first billionaires and AIPAC’s money flowing and primary challengers away. That math has broken. Staying quiet while Gaza starves and burns is now one of the fastest ways for a Democrat to lose an election.
Espaillat had AIPAC’s backing when Darializa Avila Chevalier, a former organizer of Columbia University’s Gaza encampment, beat him in New York’s 13th District. Goldman, who refused throughout his campaign to call Israel’s conduct in Gaza a genocide, lost to fellow New Yorker Brad Lander, a Jewish candidate and the city’s well known comprtoller who ran explicitly against Goldman’s Israel record. Then came DeGette, a Congressional Progressive Caucus stalwart, unseated by 29-year-old Democratic socialist Melat Kiros despite a late injection of AIPAC-linked outside spending trying to save her. Kiros’ closing message to voters was blunt: reject “corporate PACs like AIPAC” and stop waiting to end what she called the genocide in Palestine. Voters agreed by nearly ten points.
Haley Stevens who once bragged that Israel comes to her in her dreams—turned nightmare in the primary—attempted to sharpen her language criticizing Benjamin Netanyahu, trying to close a gap against El-Sayed. Even Rahm Emanuel, who served in the Israeli army, a man who built his career as one of Israel’s most reliable Democratic defenders and is openly eyeing a 2028 presidential run, stood in Tel Aviv last month and said Netanyahu’s government had driven the country into a dead end, questioning America’s unconditional support for Israel.
The state of Maine offers maybe the starkest proof. After the anti-genocide Senate candidate Graham Platner campaign imploded, half a dozen Democrats jumped in to replace him—and every one of them has had to scramble to prove they’ll carry his opposition to the Gaza war forward, not walk it back. Troy Jackson, the current nominee, attempted to placate the establishment avoiding Israel and Gaza out of his launch speech entirely; by the next day, under visible pressure, he was calling the war “unconscionable” and pledging he’d never vote for taxpayer-funded military aid to Israel. The hopeful Nirav Shah has had to publicly deny taking AIPAC money and commit to opposing all aid to Israel, offensive or defensive, just to hold onto the coalition Platner built. Even Shenna Bellows, was pressed by reporters and rivals alike to say where she stands on Gaza. None of them could afford to look like the old consensus anymore.
The behind-the-curve Republicans are watching and licking their chops, framing these wins as too far left to win in November. The party is even further behind the Democratic establishment in understanding the shift among American voters. Republicans have always been late to catch up with the reality of change in America—from voting rights to women’s rights to LGBTQ+ rights, the GOP has always been a Johnny-come-lately. And the next midterm elections are poised to prove that.
What we are observing today is not just a minor shift in national American politics. It is a tectonic realignment in party politics. It used to be that not groveling to Israel—not making the obligatory photo op wearing yarmulke and tucking a note into the crevices of a wall built under the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, was the political risk. Now it’s staying silent, hedging, or clinging to the old line that gets you ousted, and it’s grassroots movements doing the ousting, defeating outside PACs or pressure groups.
This happened because two years of televised famine, bombed hospitals, murdered children, and a UN commission calling Israel’s conduct genocide changed how American voters see Israel and what they now expect from the leaders who represent them. The politicians who read that shift early, Mamdani, Lander, Avila Chevalier, Kiros, won. The ones who didn’t are now—or soon to be— former members of congress.
The lesson for every Democrat still weighing how much daylight to put between themselves, AIPAC, and Israeli apartheid: the voters have already decided. The only question left is whether the Democratic establishment will catch up with the anti-genocide American voters in time to win the majority in both houses this November.
Working Class Champion McKinney Beats Corporate Incumbent Thanedar in Michigan Primary
One group said the people of Detroit “will soon have a representative who prioritizes the people of the district over Israel’s genocide.”
Michigan state Rep. Donavan McKinney (D-11) speaks during one of US Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) Fighting Oligarchy rallies, in Detroit, on May 3, 2026.
(Photo by Jim West/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Brett Wilkins
Aug 05, 2026
COMMON DREAMS
Michigan state Rep. Donavan McKinney has defeated incumbent Congressman Shri Thanedar in Tuesday’s 13th Congressional District Democratic primary, delivering yet another rebuke to corporate-backed Democrats and their support for Israel as it continues its US-backed genocidal assault on Gaza.
The Associated Press called the race for McKinney (D-11) just before 10:00 am local time on Wednesday, with preliminary results showing the 34-year-old Detroit sonative received 51.9% of the vote, while Thanedar—whose close ties to corporate interests made him a frequent target of progressive criticism—received 48.1%, with 99% of all votes tallied.
McKinney—a 34-year-old organizer backed by social democrats including US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.)—ran a campaign centered on working-class issues like affordable housing, healthcare, labor rights, and environmental justice.
He also sharply criticized US support for Israel’s war in Gaza—which a United Nations Commission of Inquiry last year called a genocide—joining a growing number of progressive candidates calling for an end to the billions of dollars in annual armed aid the US provides Israel and a permanent ceasefire. His stance won him widespread support in a district with a significant and growing Arab American and Muslim population.
“Detroit, I am honored beyond measure to be your Democratic nominee to represent the Mighty 13th in Congress,” McKinney said in a statement published by Michigan Advance. “I am so proud that our community is sending me to Congress to fight for a better future—because that means our movement has shown them a fighter is what they truly deserve in Washington.”
“Today, we showed why being always with the people is more than a slogan—it’s a roadmap for the Democratic Party on how to move forward to defeat the fascism and divisiveness harming our country, and to deliver the leadership the Mighty 13th deserves,” he added. “Taking back our seat and taking back our power has always been at the core of our movement, and I’m so excited for all that our community will accomplish together.”
Democratic Socialists of America congratulated McKinney—a DSA member—in a Bluesky post touting his progressive platform.
Indivisible, which organizes against what it calls a “fascistic clown show of a regime”—the Trump administration—hailed McKinney’s victory as “a huge win for working families.”
“In addition to overcoming millions in outside spending, Donavan defeated a multimillionaire incumbent who enriched himself in office and voted to enrich [President Donald Trump],” the group added. “This is how we build a better Democratic Party!”
McKinney’s victory came amid a wave of wins for progressives in Michigan and across the country.
Michigan voters also nominated progressive Abdul El-Sayed for the US Senate after he narrowly defeated Congresswoman Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) despite tens of millions of dollars in outside spending, much of it from pro-Israel groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and its United Democracy Project.
Meanwhile, Sunrise Movement co-founder Will Lawrence won the Democratic nomination in Michigan’s battleground 7th Congressional District, underscoring what supporters called the strength of climate-focused and working-class organizing.
Progressive candidates also notched victories in several Michigan state legislative contests backed by the DSA, Working Families Party, Our Revolution, and other left-leaning groups.
In metro Detroit, Chris Gilmer-Hill unseated incumbent state Rep. Helena Scott (D-8) after running on a platform centered on labor rights, housing affordability, and universal healthcare. In a closely watched state Senate primary, Abbas Alawieh—a co-founder of Michigan’s Uncommitted movement, which emerged in protest of the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s annihilation of Gaza—handily won the Democratic nomination over state Rep. Erin Byrnes (D-15). Joanna Whaley, a former megachurch pastor, is set to become the first transgender member of the state Legislature after comfortably winning her race against opponents including former state Rep. Frank Liberati (D-13), who tried to disqualify Whaley because she did not run under her deadname.
Reacting to the wins, Our Revolution executive director Joseph Geevarghese said Wednesday that “Michigan voters rejected the idea that elections can simply be bought, and they rejected a politics that asks them to settle for the status quo.”
Tuesday’s victories in Michigan point to a Democratic electorate that is apparently becoming more willing to reject candidates aligned with corporate donors and AIPAC in favor of unapologetic working-class progressives. While establishment Democrats and outside groups continue to wield enormous financial power—and have scored victories of their own, including incumbent Rep. Wesley Bell’s defeat of former Congresswoman Cori Bush in Missouri—Tuesday’s wins added to mounting evidence that working-class, pro-Palestine candidates are reshaping the Democratic agenda from coast to coast, including in crucial battleground states.
“Ordinary people understand what’s happening in this country. They know the economy is rigged against working families,” Geevarghese said. “They know our campaign finance system allows billionaires and special interests to buy power. And they’re tired of a political establishment that too often protects that broken system instead of confronting it.”
Mamdani Responds to Mike Johnson’s Fearmongering Over ‘Marxist Democrats’ and After El-Sayed Win
“I think it shows you how deeply out of touch the Republican Party is with the concerns of working-class Americans.”
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani lights the Empire State Building in celebration of America 250 on July 4, 2026 in New York City.
(Photo by John Nacion/Getty Images for Empire State Realty Trust)
Brad Reed
Aug 05, 2026
COMMON DREAMS
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday hit back at House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) over a fearmongering social media post in which the Republican warned of “radical Marxist Democrats” determined “to destroy the very foundations that make us the envy of the entire world.”
During a press conference, the democratic socialist mayor was asked to comment on the post, in which Johnson said the US was in danger of “being overrun by mini-Mamdanis” if Republicans lost control of Congress this fall.
Mamdani responded by speculating that Johnson’s post was in reaction to the victory of Abdul El-Sayed in the Democratic US Senate primary in Michigan on Tuesday.
Noting that El-Sayed campaigned on a slogan of, “Money out of politics, money in your pocket, Medicare for All,” the mayor questioned why Johnson found such promises so threatening.
“If those simple commitments and beliefs are what drive Rep. Johnson to these kinds of conclusions,” Mamdani said, “I think it shows you how deeply out of touch the Republican Party is with the concerns of working-class Americans.”
The mayor then alluded to the hurdles that El-Sayed had to overcome to win the election, including organizations such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which alone spent $30 million to defeat him.
“Despite him facing more than $60 million in outside spending,” Mamdani said, “he was able to prevail with a focus on the cost-of-living crisis, and the way in which healthcare is exceedingly out of reach for those who have helped make this country what it is.”
The Associated Press declared El-Sayed the winner of the often contentious primary on Wednesday morning, and many establishment Democrats—including his top rival, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.)—rallied behind him as the party’s nominee.
Progressive Abdul El-Sayed clinches historic Democratic nomination for Michigan Senate
10:00AM ET
RAW ST0RY
L - Haley Stevens (Credit Haley Steven for Senate and Abdul El-Sayed (Christopher J. Dean / Shutterstock.com)
In a huge win for the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, Abdul El-Sayed won the nomination for Senate in Michigan on Wednesday morning.
El-Sayed, a former professor of epidemiology and director of the Detroit Health Department, is projected to defeat Congresswoman Haley Stevens, according to NBC News and CNN.
El-Sayed will run to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, meaning Democrats are defending a seat they currently hold in a state Trump narrowly won in 2024.
The result follows a long and contentious campaign that sought to decide the direction of the Democratic Party on a number of issues, ranging from health care to international relations with Israel.
El-Sayed is now set to face off in the November general election against former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, who has himself faced a number of controversies, including allegations that he secretly lives in Florida.
Democrats Line Up Behind Abdul El-Sayed as He Clinches US Senate Nomination in Michigan
“I’m all in for Abdul,” said US Sen. Chris Murphy.
US Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed speaks during a press conference in Detroit, Michigan on August 5, 2026.
(Photo by Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images)
Democrats from across the ideological spectrum lined up behind Abdul El-Sayed on Wednesday after he clinched the party’s nomination for a US Senate seat in Michigan.
Shortly after The Associated Press projected El-Sayed as the victor in the closely watched primary, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) released a joint statement supporting the newly minted nominee.
“Abdul El-Sayed has run an energetic campaign that inspired thousands of Michiganders across the state, with a clear focus on lowering costs and standing up for working families,” they said. “Democrats are united by a common purpose: putting a check on [President] Donald Trump by defeating his Republican enablers and taking back the Senate.”
Schumer and Gillibrand also took a shot at El-Sayed’s Republican rival, Mike Rogers, whom they described as “a rubber stamp for Donald Trump, backing the same reckless agenda that has driven up costs for working families, imposed chaotic tariffs that have hurt Michigan’s auto industry, and put special interests ahead of the people of Michigan.”
Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), El-Sayed’s top rival for the Democratic nomination, conceded the race on Wednesday morning and offered “my full support as we work to defeat Mike Rogers this November.”
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who had endorsed Stevens, also threw her support behind El-Sayed and all other Michigan Democratic candidates.
“They’ve got my support as we fight like hell together to win in November,” said Whitmer. “Together, let’s stop MAGA Republicans so we can get to work and deliver results for the people of Michigan.”
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said he was “excited” to see El-Sayed win the primary.
“Voters will have a clear choice in Michigan now,” said Murphy. “A corporate-owned Trump loyalist or a doctor who will stand up for the little guy and will hold Trump and the corporations to account. I’m all in for Abdul.”
Beth Miller, political director at Jewish Voice for Peace Action, hailed El-Sayed’s victory as a “political earthquake,” given that it came after the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) spent an estimated $30 million trying to defeat him.
“Voters in one of the most consequential states for the 2028 Presidential race have just sent a clear message,” said Miller. “They want candidates who will fight for working families at home while unapologetically speaking out for Palestinian freedom. This cycle, AIPAC is being relegated to the dustbin of history.”
According to a Wednesday report from Semafor, Michigan Democrats have already begun pivoting toward the general election campaign by planning negative attacks on GOP rival Rogers as a tool of moneyed interests and labeling him “the biggest name in corruption.”
During a Wednesday morning victory speech, El-Sayed accused Rogers of spending 14 years in Congress with the sole goal of “figuring out how to cash out the day he left.”
“Mike Rogers is a guy who wants to put a data center in your backyard so he can make himself feel a little more manly by making an AI video,” said El-Sayed. “Mike Rogers is a guy who will do anything Blue Cross Blue Shield wants him to do, including raise your rates... Mike Rogers is a guy who has never shied away from a corporation he could do a favor for.”
El-Sayed Challenges ‘Corporate Sellout’ and ‘Coward’ Mike Rogers to Five Debates
The Michigan Democrat called his Republican opponent “a guy who spent 14 years in Congress with one goal: to figure out how to cash out the day he left,” and promised to send him back to Florida in November.
Abdul El-Sayed, the winner of Michigan’s Democratic US Senate primary, speaks during a press conference in front of the Spirit of Detroit statue on August 5, 2026.
(Photo by Finn Gomez/Getty Images)
Jessica Corbett
Aug 05, 2026
COMMON DREAMS
After winning Michigan’s Democratic primary contest for US Senate, Abdul El-Sayed wasted no time on Wednesday, challenging the Republican nominee, former Congressman Mike Rogers, to five debates before the November general election.
“Mike,” El-Sayed said at a podium while speaking with reporters on Wednesday morning, “I know you’re gonna say no ‘cause you’re a coward: Five debates, all right?”
Progressives Aim to Defeat AIPAC Cash, Democratic Establishment in Michigan and Missouri Primaries
Democrats Line Up Behind Abdul El-Sayed as He Clinches US Senate Nomination in Michigan
“If you’re willing to stand with me and have a conversation—you and I both know that you will wither in front of your own crimes. But Imma make sure Michiganders know about them,” he continued. “By the time we’re done, you are not gonna have safe quarter from people holding you accountable to what you’ve done for them here in Michigan. We will send you back to Florida where you belong.”
Ripping Rogers as a “corporate sellout,” El-Sayed said that he is “a guy who spent 14 years in Congress with one goal: to figure out how to cash out the day he left. And guess what he did: As soon as he left Congress, after having taken corporate check after corporate check after corporate check, to empower the corporations to pick your pockets, he went and he cashed out.”
“Not in Michigan—no, winters are too cold for him,” he added, eliciting chuckles from the crowd. “He’s got thin skin, after all. He went to Florida. So, Mike, if you wanna be a Florida man, go be a Florida man.”
Rogers‚ who was unopposed in Tuesday’s GOP primary, worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation before entering politics, first at the state level and then representing Michigan’s 8th District in Congress from 2001-15. In comments to Fox News late Tuesday, the Republican cited his time fighting “terrorism” in the FBI and falsely claimed that El-Sayed believes “America deserved 9/11.”
“This is really about the heart and soul of our country,” Rogers said of the race just minutes after El-Sayed, a son of Egyptian immigrants, declared victory over Democratic Congresswoman Haley Stevens. “I have never seen someone so radical, so extreme, get nominated by a political party... The Democrat party is lost to this hardcore socialist attitude.”
The Democratic Socialists of America did not endorse El-Sayed, but his victory is part of a wave of recent primary wins by progressive congressional candidates, from New York and Pennsylvania to Colorado. The trend continued in other closely watched Michigan races on Tuesday, with William Lawrence winning in the 7th Congressional District and Donavan McKinney in the 13th District.
Like other victorious progressives, El-Sayed ran on a platform prioritizing working-class people; a former public health official, he especially focused on the fight for Medicare for All. Bridge Michigan reported Wednesday that “El-Sayed has said he doesn’t consider himself a democratic socialist and rejects the notion that his views are extreme in today’s political climate.”
“In an era where our premiums are quickly pricing people out, I think being for Medicare for All is… the moderate position,” El-Sayed previously told the outlet. In an era where President Donald Trump “is weaponizing” US immigration and Customs Enforcement “against the Constitution itself,” he added, “I think abolishing ICE is a moderate position.”
While key party leaders nationwide have often backed establishment candidates over progressives in recent primaries, including El-Sayed v. Stevens, Democrats in Michigan and across the country are already rallying behind the victor, with even the congresswoman he defeated showing her support on Wednesday.
“Mike Rogers represents everything people hate about politics: He sold Michiganders out to the corporate special interests cutting him checks, abandoned Michigan for a Florida mansion, and got rich advising the industries he regulated in Congress,” Michigan Democratic Party spokesperson Joey Hannum said in a statement after the primary election.
“As Trump’s approval rating plummets to record lows, Rogers is still pledging to rubber stamp his toxic agenda, mocking Michiganders’ concerns about rising costs, and saying he would focus on ‘shielding’ the Trump administration and billionaires like Elon Musk from accountability, rather than stand up for working families,” Hannum said. “Michigan Democrats will hold Rogers accountable for his corruption, expose his price-hiking agenda, and defeat him a second time this November.”
Historic 'earthquake' shakes Dems after 'death star' fails to thwart progressive: analystRAW STORY
Abdul El-Sayed, winner of Michigan U.S, Democratic primary, is escorted out following a press conference in Detroit, Michigan, on August 5, 2026. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook
Abdul El-Sayed's victory in Michigan's Democratic Senate primary has become an "earthquake for the Democratic Party old guard," an analyst reported Wednesday.
Investigative journalist Ken Klippenstein detailed in his Substack how the historic upset was something Democrats hadn't seen since the rise of former President Barack Obama.
"The irony here is that Obama actually won the 2008 presidential primary by less than El-Sayed — just half a percent of the popular vote," Klippenstein explained.
"This is a massive defeat for the Democratic Party old guard and an affirmation that the new crop of outsider, renegade candidates are the people’s choice," Klippenstein wrote.
This has stunned the party's leadership.
"Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — basically the entire Democratic establishment endorsed Haley Stevens, a textbook party stooge. For her to still lose is a repudiation and humiliation of not just Stevens but the entire political death star behind her," Klippenstein wrote.
He added that the win should be a sign of where the party will head next.
"But the real story here is bigger than El-Sayed," Klippenstein wrote. "It’s that voters were not swayed by an avalanche of big money and big people. Instead, they hoisted a bigger finger than we’ve seen since Barack Obama’s own primary upset in 2008, when he defeated party leader-approved Hillary Clinton. Any media outlet that doesn’t acknowledge that is on the side of big money and big people."
Ranting Trump smears 'Communist loser' after progressive's narrow win
Alexander Willis
August 5, 2026 RAW STORY
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Michigan, U.S., July 27, 2026. REUTERS/Evan Vucci
President Donald Trump is already lashing out at presumptive Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed after his apparent electoral victory in Michigan.
Trump slammed the victor and his competitor, U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, in angry Truth Social Post Wednesday morning in which he argued the El-Sayed's win would actually benefit Republicans come November.
“Great news for the Republican Party," Trump wrote. "El-Sayed, a Communist loser who hates Jews and Israel, is the projected winner in his race with the Socialist.
“As usual, the Polls were way off on this one. She was not expected to do nearly as well as she did. Now, the Dumocrats crazy policies will only get worse!”
El-Sayed is the projected winner of Tuesday’s Democratic primary election in his bid for Senate, his victory representing the latest win for the progressive wing of the party.
Moments earlier, Trump warned that El-Sayed had a “real shot” of defeating former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), citing unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in Michigan.
“The Radical Left Socialist has a real shot, and don’t discount all of those fake mail-in ballots that will ‘surprisingly’ show up at the last moment,” Trump wrote in a previous social media post.
Trump panics over progressive Dem’s 'real shot' at taking down MAGA ex-rep: ‘Get ready’
Alexander Willis
August 5, 2026RAW STORY
U.S. President Donald Trump arrives at Los Angeles International Airport, in California, U.S., August 4, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
President Donald Trump issued a call to Michigan voters Wednesday to support former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) in the upcoming general election following the strong performance of Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, whom the president warned had “a real shot” at defeating the Republican.
In Trump’s plea, he also predicted, without evidence, that the upcoming general election in Michigan would see a surge of “fake mail-in ballots” for El-Sayed.
“Wayne County (Detroit) in Michigan is one of the most corrupt voting areas in the United States, if not the World. It is strictly Third World! Miracles happen in Wayne County, including more votes being cast than there are voters, by a lot,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
“Therefore, the Communist, who is not liked in Detroit, is potentially in ‘Vote Counter’ trouble. The Radical Left Socialist has a real shot, and don’t discount all of those fake mail-in ballots that will ‘surprisingly’ show up at the last moment. Get ready for another Rigged Election. In November we must VOTE FOR MIKE ROGERS, and make Michigan TOO BIG TO RIG.”
Trump has long made false claims regarding systemic election fraud, despite evidence repeatedly proving said claims to be false.
While some media outlets have yet to call the race, NBC News and Decision Desk have both called the race for El-Sayed.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that Mike Rogers is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, not a senator.
More Civilian Attacks Feared as Pentagon Shifts Boat Strike Campaign to Countries Across Latin America
The US military’s partnership with Ecuador has already been associated with unexplained drone strikes and torture of people wrongfully accused of drug trafficking.
US soldiers take part in a joint operation in Latin America in a promotional video for Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere, which US Southern Command unveiled on August 4, 2026.
(Image by US Southern Command)
Julia Conley
Aug 05, 2026
COMMON DREAMS
The US and Ecuadorian joint attacks that occurred in March at a rural dairy farm where officials insisted drug traffickers were operating “could replicate over the rest of 2026” across Latin America, said one expert after the Pentagon announced that its boat bombing campaign would be expanded to “defeat all threats” within countries across the region.
US Southern Command, which has overseen the boat bombings—up to now known as Operation Southern Spear—and the killings of at least 221 people, announced Tuesday that the operation will now be known as Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere, with the US military “taking the fight to the enemy.”
The “fight” the military referred to is largely against drug cartels operating in Latin America, with which President Donald Trump has claimed the US is in an “armed conflict.”
But the US Congress has not authorized the attacks the US military has carried out as it’s claimed to be fighting “narco-terrorists,” including at least 66 boat bombings in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean—an operation that has cost $820 million so far.
Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have introduced war powers resolutions aimed at stopping the Trump administration from continuing the boat bombings, but the efforts have failed, even as families have filed legal complaints alleging that their loved ones were wrongfully killed in the attacks.
The Drug Enforcement Agency’s own data recently showed that the bombing of boats suspected of carrying drugs has done little-to-nothing to stop illegal substances from entering the US, while international law experts have emphasized that even if the US has been accurately targeting drug traffickers, the killings could constitute war crimes or mass murder.
Now, releasing a promotional video that resembled an action movie trailer, US Southern Command on Tuesday pledged to “synchronize US military operations with allies and partners to counter threats, strengthen regional security, and respond rapidly to crises across the Western Hemisphere.”
“Along with our America’s Counter Cartel Coalition partners, we will locate, close with, and destroy the enemies that threaten our hemisphere,” said Commander Francis Donovan of US Southern Command.
Donovan noted that 18 countries have backed the United States’ stated mission of halting drug trafficking out of Latin America.
As Adam Isacson, the director for defense oversight at the Washington Office on Latin America, pointed out, leaders in Colombia and Peru have both expressed interest in hosting joint military operations with the US on their own soil.
President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella of Colombia has said he plans to join Trump’s Shield of the Americas alliance, a group right-wing government across the hemisphere that have pledged to join in the fight against drug cartels—but which the civil society group Justice for Colombia warned may ultimately “impose US strategic interests on the region and could target left-wing activists and other opponents.”
“Colombian communities have long opposed purely military solutions to the existence of armed groups,” said the group last month. “Many welcomed peace talks under the [President Gustavo] Petro government, while highlighting that more needed to be done to protect social activists and deal with root causes of conflict. Many now fear that they will be targeted in a renewed emphasis on conflict.”
Newly inaugurated Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori has also signaled a willingness to join the alliance after having campaigned on fighting crime rates in the South American country.
The Trump administration has also pushed Guatemalan and Honduran leaders to approve joint strikes against suspected drug gangs inside their borders.
With Joint Task Force dWestern Hemisphere, said New York Times reporter Maria Abi-Habib, the Pentagon is “standing up a task force that will see Latin American countries accept joint US strikes inside their borders. It moves the boat strikes from international waters to sovereign inland territories across the region.”
US Southern Command spoke approvingly of a raid Guatemala conducted on an alleged drug lab earlier this year, saying in a social media post that the operation showed a “commitment to take the fight to narco-terrorists in their country.”
Two people familiar with the push in Guatemala told the Times that the administration was advocating for joint strikes in the country to ultimately pressure Mexico, where President Claudia Sheinbaum has rejected similar requests.
Ecuador’s partnership with Trump has brought allegations of torture, arbitrary detention, and unexplained drone strikes on at least three Ecuadorian fishing boats. In June, the prosecutor investigating the boat attacks was killed in an apparent assassination.
“Ecuador has been the proving ground” for Trump’s so-called “Donroe Doctrine,” said Drop Site News reporter Camila Lourdes Galarza, adding that the “media silence” regarding the US military’s expansion in the region “has severely compromised all analysis.”
‘No Vacation Nation’: Analysis Shows US Workers Getting Shafted When It Comes to Paid Time Off
The US is still the only developed country that doesn’t require any paid vacation time by law.
A woman is seen in a swimming pool, lying on a pink inflatable ring and relaxing at a holiday villa in Majorca, Spain.
(Photo by Flashpop via Getty Images)
Stephen Prager
Aug 05, 2026
COMMON DREAMS
Though they may work in the land of the free, Americans are getting a lot less free time than their counterparts around the world.
The US is the only developed nation that doesn’t require employers to grant workers any paid vacation time. And according to a report out Wednesday, the average American is receiving less time off than what many of their peers consider the bare minimum.
Twenty-five countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) require employers to grant at least 20 days of paid time off to their workers.
Workers in the UK are guaranteed at least 28 days of lounging each year by law, while those in Sweden, France, Denmark, and Austria get a minimum of 25 days off.
Americans, meanwhile, are receiving just 10 vacation days per year on average, according to the analysis, titled “No Vacation Nation,” by John Schmitt, a fellow at the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
That is the bare minimum for countries ranking at the bottom of the OECD list, Japan and Canada, which each require full-time workers to get at least 10 days off.
And the Americans getting time off at all are the lucky ones. Around 43% of workers in the bottom quarter of earners don’t get any paid vacation time, while just 38% of part-time workers do.
“Every other comparable country in the world guarantees workers a decent minimum amount of paid vacation. In the United States, we don’t require employers to give any,” Schmitt said. “As a result, almost a quarter of our workforce has nothing at all, and the average for those workers who do have paid vacation is near the bottom of the minimum required by law in the rest of the world’s rich countries.”
Vacation days are just one of many areas where American workers are guaranteed less than their counterparts in other wealthy nations. The US is also the only OECD country with no national requirement for paid maternity leave or sick leave.
Members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus have pushed for paid time off to be included in its “New Affordability Agenda,” a package of bills focused on labor and the cost of living that they hope will pass if Democrats retake Congress this November.
They’ve included a bill introduced last year by Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-RI) which requires two weeks of paid vacation for full-time workers.
CBS insiders 'actively exploring options' as another big name departs: report
Bennito L. Kelty
August 5, 2026 RAW STORY
Editor-in-Chief of CBS News Bari Weiss attends the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho, U.S., July 10, 2026. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Another Colbert is leaving CBS amid a growing exodus and producers saying they're "actively exploring options," according to reports.
Comedian Stephen Colbert lost his show at CBS earlier this year as the network's MAGA-friendly owner David Ellison sought the Trump administration's approval for a merger. Now, Colbert's daughter, Madeleine Carlisle, is leaving her role as an associate producer for '60 Minutes,' which is bleeding talent under Bari Weiss, according to reporting by The Daily Beast.
Carlisle worked as an associate producer for '60 Minutes' since November 2022 and as an intern for the show in 2017. She also worked at The Atlantic and Time. CBS axed her dad's show, "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," with its final episode airing in May.
Her departure comes as the news show is set to return with new episodes in September. According to The Daily Beast, '60 Minutes' Executive Producer Nick Bilton is facing a "Herculean effort" to assign enough stories to have enough episodes for the show to get through the upcoming season.
Like Ellison, Weiss is considered a MAGA ally as her leadership has seen Jeffrey Epstein stories killed and attempts to push negative coverage of anti-ICE protesters, according to reports.
Correspondents like Scott Pelley, Anderson Cooper, Cecilia Vega, and Sharyn Alfonsi are no longer with '60 Minutes,' after having left or been fired under Weiss. Meanwhile, other CBS news programs are struggling to retain viewers, as CBS Evening News ratings dip and CBS Mornings recorded its lowest-rated week ever in July.
According to The Daily Beast, Carlisle's resignation may be followed by more departures as other producers are "actively exploring options" to leave '60 Minutes.'
Status recently reported, "People on the show and those associated with it believe Bilton is deeply underwater, though he has expressed confidence in his ability to get ['60 Minutes'] to air this fall."
'Ripe for accidents': Families fume at Trump as ship doctor warns sailors may go insane
Travis Gettys
August 5, 2026RAW STORY
(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Clint Davis/Released)
Families of sailors and Marines aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln are raising urgent concerns about deteriorating conditions on the aircraft carrier, which has now spent nine months at sea and five consecutive months in combat operations.
The crew of more than 5,000 personnel is facing moldy showers, food shortages and a severe lack of basic supplies such as toothpaste, soap and deodorant, reported MS NOW.
Most troubling to family members is the exhaustion plaguing the crew, who are working excruciatingly long shifts with minimal days off — a situation that military experts warn could lead to deadly mistakes on one of the world's most dangerous workplaces.
“The morale is not good," said Bonnie York, whose stepson is on the Lincoln. "Apparently, the ship’s doctor or therapist said they need to hit port soon or people are going to start, you know, losing their minds."
Since leaving its home port in San Diego in November, the Lincoln has had only two days off the carrier. After a brief port call in Guam in December, the ship did not stop again until July 7, when it pulled into Oman after 208 consecutive days at sea — a modern-day record for a Navy aircraft carrier.
The extended deployment has created hazardous conditions on the flight deck, where sailors operate high-speed aircraft, manage spinning propellers and load bombs and missiles.
One Navy veteran whose son serves on the Lincoln described seeing holes worn through the flight deck itself. The Navy's 5th Fleet spokesperson denied this account, stating the deck has been properly maintained, though he acknowledged more than 10,000 aircraft sorties have occurred over eight months.
Family members describe their loved ones reporting non-operational toilets, laundry facilities broken for weeks, and extended periods without hot water. In April, photos shared by sailors' families showed extremely small food portions described as inedible. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dismissed these reports as "fake news," but families insist the concerns are legitimate and ongoing.
Nicole Conrad, whose son is serving on the Lincoln, said he has described days when showers were locked and described a meal consisting of only half a cup of rice and two tortillas.
"Go visit. If you want to sit here and you want to say that Trump is taking care of the soldiers, go yourself," Conrad told reporters, adding that she voted for President Donald Trump but is frustrated by his decision to enter the Iran war.
“He put our nose in a war that we shouldn’t be in,” she said.
Brett Snow, a Navy veteran whose son serves on the Lincoln, warned that the relentless pace with few breaks creates an environment "ripe for accidents."
The carrier strike group has been central to Trump's military campaign against Iran, enforcing naval blockades, intercepting vessels, and supporting airstrikes on strategic Iranian targets. The deployment has stretched far beyond the routine seven-month timeline, with indications it has been extended for a second time.
Family members and military experts worry that continued exhaustion and deteriorating conditions could compromise operational safety and retention. Navy veteran Snow noted that if carrier deployments continue to lengthen at this pace, it will become increasingly difficult for the Navy to retain sailors when their tours conclude.
Snow said he voted for the president because he campaigned on keeping the U.S. out of foreign wars, and he strongly agreed that Iran should not have nuclear weapons, but he doubts the current strategy is working.
“I don’t know if we’re ever going to be able to achieve any kind of reasonable — anything that even comes close to what Americans might consider a victory,” Snow said.
York agreed, saying military families were "sacrificing for something that none of us want to be a part of, essentially.”
“I don’t think we’re safer,” York said. “I think we’ve depleted a lot of things. I think we’ve pushed our military to the edge.”
'Worst case scenario' likely as ships trapped by Trump's war could spur 'super spreader'
Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 3, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
Stalled ships near the Strait of Hormuz amid President Donald Trump's Iran war threaten more than just oil markets as scientists warn idling vessels could trigger an invasive species "super-spreader event," according to reports on Tuesday.
More than 1,500 ships have sat idle in the trade channel since the conflict began on Feb. 28 and experts revealed that organisms growing on hulls and hitchhiking on the vessels could devastate global ecosystems once trade resumes, USA Today reported.
"If you had to sort of design a worst-case scenario, it would look a lot like this," Mario Tamburri, a professor at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and the study’s lead author, told USA Today. "It’s a perfect storm."
When ships don't move for days or weeks, microbes, algae and other marine organisms can colonize the submerged parts of the vessel. Experts warned that after 10 days these organisms can hit the "rapid growth phase."
"These organisms, when introduced to other ecosystems, can cause a wide array of consequences, from outcompeting native species to damaging infrastructure to introducing pathogens harmful to marine life and, sometimes, humans," according to USA Today.
Tamburri called the situation unprecedented, adding that the high number of ships, estimated at about 1,500 vessels sitting along the trade route, could harbor "organisms that thrive in the Middle East waters, such as the Strait of Hormuz, Gulf of Oman and Persian Gulf."
The organisms can adapt to areas that see extreme seasonal changes. Areas most at-risk for spreading these colonizers are near the strait and with similar high salinity and high temperature conditions, including ports in Southeast Asia and India. These are at higher risk compared to other locations, Tamburri said. He cautioned Singapore, an international hub for commercial shipping, could be a high risk.
"Those organisms can withstand extremes," Tamburri said. "They’re tolerant organisms, which makes them good candidates for invasions when they go to a new location."
