The 2026 Democratic primary season is a battle between the establishment vs. insurgency. And the Michigan Senate race proves there's no significant space in between.
If I still lived in MI, I would have voted for Mallory McMorrow in the primary. But the fact is, despite being the first person to jump into the race to replace Gary Peters, her campaign just never caught fire. At some point, we have to lay the blame for that on the candidate herself. She's smart as a whip, had a great message, but somehow failed to appeal to a significant share of the electorate. She was always at or near the bottom of the polling. I hope she's learned from this experience and comes back a better candidate next time around. Just look at Jon Ossoff in GA: In 2021, he wasn't exactly a stellar candidate, but this time around he's found his footing and his voice, and his campaign is fire. McMorrow could do the same.
Both of the remaining contenders have their pluses and minuses, but I hope like hell that after this primary is over, the party unites behind whichever candidate wins. That didn't happen in 2024 with Kamala Harris, and it's cost the country dearly. My suspicion is that this election is less about the pundit-class framing of establishment vs insurgent as it is about change.
Finally, I'm GLAD Mallory McMorrow isn't endorsing either of the remaining candidates. That decision should be left to the voters, but she's already promised to back and campaign hard for whoever wins. That's the kind of style and class we need more of!
I’m also pretty convinced that a path between populism and traditional centre left with a bit of fight is probably the right one to benefit ordinary people and to bring along the traditional swing voters.
Maybe not as president, but the Democratic Party does need to do better policy in general. And not just third way bullshit that sides with the billionaires.
I will go to my grave believing we’ve died on the hill of misogyny: that it is women who understand how to thread needles; that the voting public rejects needle-threading women, not because we are effective seamstresses but because we are white, well-educated, strong, (scary) women. Nobody, but nobody trusts us, including most of our peers. (Look who got “the vote” last, after getting it for everyone else…)
Do *voters* see it as "a battle between the establishment vs. insurgency"? Or is that mostly the way pundits frame it? As a Massachusetts voter, I supported Elizabeth Warren when she ran the first time, and I've supported her ever since -- though I was very disappointed when she endorsed Graham Platner right out of the gate. I'm neither "establishment" -- though I was for several years an officer in my local Democratic group, I'm usually unenrolled in any party -- nor "insurgent," which these days seems to overlap heavily with "Sanders supporter" (which I most definitely am not). I do count myself among those who wasn't wild about Biden but voted for Biden-Harris in the 2020 election, who actively supported the Harris-Walz ticket in 2024, and who was totally disgusted by how the advent of Trump II caught upper-level congressional Democrats completely unawares.
If I were in Michigan, I probably would have been backing Abdul el-Sayed in the primary because I listened regularly to his "America Dissected" podcast and think scientific expertise is valuable in Congress. I'd definitely be backing him against Haley Stevens. Other things being equal, I'll generally vote for the woman, but in this case they aren't equal at all.
I've never been wild about Bernie, voted for Biden-Harris in 2020, and just about cleaned out my bank account for Harris-Walz in 2024. The disgust and disappointment I have for Democratic leadership, who seem to think their only responsibility now is to write 'strongly worded letters' and spam their donors for money to support their chosen candidates is second only to that I have for the MAGA Morons who voted for this crap.
I agree with you, Susanna on the point you made in your final paragraph as well. If I lived in Michigan, I would be voting for Abdul El-Sayed. This is not a choice between equals, and to label it as such, or a choice between "establishment" and "insurgency" is to miss the point.
As a Californian, I have seen the same dynamics play here as well. I applaud and deeply respect candidates, like Elizabeth Warren, who are fighters and know how to "thread the needle." We NEED them badly, yet it appears to me that the very wealthy political donor class backs the establishment status quo every time. Damn that Citizens United ruling by SCOTUS, its abberent dark money, and misleading PAC messaging! Apparently, "they" are AFRAID of any form of change, even the changes which would result in "raising all boats." 🤔 I know that sounds nonsensical, but there is a significant part of the one-percenters who live in their own echo chamber; always hiding and manipulating in the backrooms. They never see the "big picture" because in their blind narcissism they think THEY are the big picture. (NOT!) As for the establishment DNC, I remain a steadfast Independent. In their own way, they try to skew the primaries to reflect their "establishment" class and the donors who feed them. (It did not go well with Platner recently, did it? I am talking to you Chuck Schumer.) And, it's with that "establishment" bias, that the much-needed candidates and politicians like Elizabeth Warren always will have a very tough uphill road even as they "thread the needle." The bright side of the overall American population suffering under the edicts of the corrupt and immoral Trump regime is, maybe, just maybe, we will get the candidates and elected officials we need in primaries and November elections. Pain can be a brutal teacher. After all, "It's the corruption, stupid" is the rallying cry of today! It is the work of leaders like Elizabeth Warren, who are seeding the ground today, so we can claw back our democracy from the current corruption.
I'm with you 100% on the Citizens United ruling. The $$$, dark and otherwise, pouring into electoral politics was always a problem, especially after the death of Fair Use and the repeal of much of Glass-Steagall, but it got much, much worse after Citizens United. I'm also 100% behind Elizabeth Warren -- if she'd done nothing else but establish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (which the Trump administration is doing its best to co-opt), I'd be backing her, but she's done plenty more than that.
I live in Michigan and was (and still am) a McMorrow supporter. She impressed me from the first time I heard her speak several years ago. I understand and sadly agree with what you have written. McMorrow is NOT finished!
If I still lived in MI, I would have voted for Mallory McMorrow in the primary. But the fact is, despite being the first person to jump into the race to replace Gary Peters, her campaign just never caught fire. At some point, we have to lay the blame for that on the candidate herself. She's smart as a whip, had a great message, but somehow failed to appeal to a significant share of the electorate. She was always at or near the bottom of the polling. I hope she's learned from this experience and comes back a better candidate next time around. Just look at Jon Ossoff in GA: In 2021, he wasn't exactly a stellar candidate, but this time around he's found his footing and his voice, and his campaign is fire. McMorrow could do the same.
Both of the remaining contenders have their pluses and minuses, but I hope like hell that after this primary is over, the party unites behind whichever candidate wins. That didn't happen in 2024 with Kamala Harris, and it's cost the country dearly. My suspicion is that this election is less about the pundit-class framing of establishment vs insurgent as it is about change.
Finally, I'm GLAD Mallory McMorrow isn't endorsing either of the remaining candidates. That decision should be left to the voters, but she's already promised to back and campaign hard for whoever wins. That's the kind of style and class we need more of!
I’m also pretty convinced that a path between populism and traditional centre left with a bit of fight is probably the right one to benefit ordinary people and to bring along the traditional swing voters.
Maybe not as president, but the Democratic Party does need to do better policy in general. And not just third way bullshit that sides with the billionaires.
I will go to my grave believing we’ve died on the hill of misogyny: that it is women who understand how to thread needles; that the voting public rejects needle-threading women, not because we are effective seamstresses but because we are white, well-educated, strong, (scary) women. Nobody, but nobody trusts us, including most of our peers. (Look who got “the vote” last, after getting it for everyone else…)
Do *voters* see it as "a battle between the establishment vs. insurgency"? Or is that mostly the way pundits frame it? As a Massachusetts voter, I supported Elizabeth Warren when she ran the first time, and I've supported her ever since -- though I was very disappointed when she endorsed Graham Platner right out of the gate. I'm neither "establishment" -- though I was for several years an officer in my local Democratic group, I'm usually unenrolled in any party -- nor "insurgent," which these days seems to overlap heavily with "Sanders supporter" (which I most definitely am not). I do count myself among those who wasn't wild about Biden but voted for Biden-Harris in the 2020 election, who actively supported the Harris-Walz ticket in 2024, and who was totally disgusted by how the advent of Trump II caught upper-level congressional Democrats completely unawares.
If I were in Michigan, I probably would have been backing Abdul el-Sayed in the primary because I listened regularly to his "America Dissected" podcast and think scientific expertise is valuable in Congress. I'd definitely be backing him against Haley Stevens. Other things being equal, I'll generally vote for the woman, but in this case they aren't equal at all.
I couldn't have said this better.
I've never been wild about Bernie, voted for Biden-Harris in 2020, and just about cleaned out my bank account for Harris-Walz in 2024. The disgust and disappointment I have for Democratic leadership, who seem to think their only responsibility now is to write 'strongly worded letters' and spam their donors for money to support their chosen candidates is second only to that I have for the MAGA Morons who voted for this crap.
I agree with you, Susanna on the point you made in your final paragraph as well. If I lived in Michigan, I would be voting for Abdul El-Sayed. This is not a choice between equals, and to label it as such, or a choice between "establishment" and "insurgency" is to miss the point.
As a Californian, I have seen the same dynamics play here as well. I applaud and deeply respect candidates, like Elizabeth Warren, who are fighters and know how to "thread the needle." We NEED them badly, yet it appears to me that the very wealthy political donor class backs the establishment status quo every time. Damn that Citizens United ruling by SCOTUS, its abberent dark money, and misleading PAC messaging! Apparently, "they" are AFRAID of any form of change, even the changes which would result in "raising all boats." 🤔 I know that sounds nonsensical, but there is a significant part of the one-percenters who live in their own echo chamber; always hiding and manipulating in the backrooms. They never see the "big picture" because in their blind narcissism they think THEY are the big picture. (NOT!) As for the establishment DNC, I remain a steadfast Independent. In their own way, they try to skew the primaries to reflect their "establishment" class and the donors who feed them. (It did not go well with Platner recently, did it? I am talking to you Chuck Schumer.) And, it's with that "establishment" bias, that the much-needed candidates and politicians like Elizabeth Warren always will have a very tough uphill road even as they "thread the needle." The bright side of the overall American population suffering under the edicts of the corrupt and immoral Trump regime is, maybe, just maybe, we will get the candidates and elected officials we need in primaries and November elections. Pain can be a brutal teacher. After all, "It's the corruption, stupid" is the rallying cry of today! It is the work of leaders like Elizabeth Warren, who are seeding the ground today, so we can claw back our democracy from the current corruption.
I'm with you 100% on the Citizens United ruling. The $$$, dark and otherwise, pouring into electoral politics was always a problem, especially after the death of Fair Use and the repeal of much of Glass-Steagall, but it got much, much worse after Citizens United. I'm also 100% behind Elizabeth Warren -- if she'd done nothing else but establish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (which the Trump administration is doing its best to co-opt), I'd be backing her, but she's done plenty more than that.
I live in Michigan and was (and still am) a McMorrow supporter. She impressed me from the first time I heard her speak several years ago. I understand and sadly agree with what you have written. McMorrow is NOT finished!
I ❤️Elizabeth Warren too and I am still crying.
You aren't wrong sadly. I say this a a Warren supporter.