Opinion

LEE CARTER: Election shocker: The winners had a slogan; the losers just had résumés

From Michigan to Missouri, candidates with clear promises defeated opponents who led with credentials

By Lee Hartley Carter Fox News

Published August 5, 2026 3:27pm EDT | Updated August 5, 2026 3:30pm EDT

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El-Sayed challenges Mike Rogers after Michigan primary victory

Senior national correspondent Rich Edson reports from Belleville, Michigan, after progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed wins the Democratic Senate primary, narrowly defeating Haley Stevens. Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., discusses El-Sayed's alignment with the Democratic Socialists of America platform, including healthcare and border policies.

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Tuesday night, the left won. The right won. The establishment won. The insurgents won.

In other words, nobody won.

Except for the message.

100 DAYS UNTIL MIDTERMS AND DEMOCRATS ARE WINNING BECAUSE THEY ACTUALLY HAVE A MESSAGE

The political class will now perform its traditional postmortem: Find the result it agrees with and declare a sweeping ideological mandate.

But voters delivered a simpler verdict: Tell me what you are going to do for me, and please do it before I lose interest.

The real divide was not left versus right. It was memorable versus forgettable.

'SQUAD' MEMBER'S COMEBACK BID THWARTED AS ESTABLISHMENT DEMS NOTCH VICTORY AGAINST SOCIALISTS

The winners had a sentence. The losers had a résumé.

Consider Abdul El-Sayed, who defeated Rep. Haley Stevens in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary.

His message was "Money out of politics. Money in your pocket. Medicare for All."

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Eleven words. Three beats. A villain, a benefit and a policy. In that order.

DAVID MARCUS: IN BOOMING DETROIT, VOTERS SKEPTICAL OF SOCIALISM SNAKE OIL

Politicians like to imagine voters carefully comparing policy frameworks. Voters are usually wondering why everything costs so much and whether anyone in public life has noticed.

Stevens made the respectable case: experience, credentials and electability. All of that may have been true. It was also about her.

"I can win" is not a promise to voters. It is a candidate asking the public to participate in her career planning.

A résumé is........

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