On July 8, Abdul El-Sayed had just wrapped up a campaign stop inside a sweltering church auditorium in Ferndale, Michigan. The room was packed with supporters fanning themselves with campaign signs, many braving the summer heat to hear the progressive Senate candidate make his case against his opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens.

Then came the applause.

It wasn’t for Medicare for All or his warnings about the rise of data centers. It was for a message that has come to define what is expected to be the most expensive Democratic Senate primary in history.

“The central corrupting feature of our politics right now is the power of money to buy politicians so that government is captured by them, not for us,” El-Sayed said as he fielded questions from the stagefrom the stage, wearing his signature black T-shirt and blue jeans. “AIPAC will spend huge amounts of money if you’re uppity like me and you speak out of turn to beat you, and you’re seeing it play out on TV every day.”

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee and its affiliated groups have poured more than $30 million into the race in support of Stevens. It is the largest investment the organization has made in an electoral contest since launching its United Democracy Project super PAC in 2021.

“I have been very clear, consistent and transparent, and I have continued to be,” Stevens said during a recent televised debate when asked about AIPAC’s support for her campaign. “I want to see long-term peace. I want to see a two-state solution. I am deeply proud to represent one of the largest Jewish populations in a congressional district in the country.”

The stakes in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary extend far beyond the state. The winner will face Republican Mike Rogers in one of the country’s marquee general election contests, and Democrats need to win races like Michigan if they hope to take control of the Senate.

But first, Democratic voters are deciding a different question: whether the party’s future lies with its establishment, represented by Stevens, or with an ascendant progressive movement embodied by candidates like El-Sayed. The race has become a proxy fight over money in politics, the influence of pro-Israel groups such as AIPAC, and whether Democratic candidates can openly criticize U.S. support for Israel without sacrificing electability.

It is also unfolding in the shadow of Michigan’s 2024 Uncommitted movement, which turned the state into the epicenter of Democratic dissent over the war in Gaza and exposed........

© Mother Jones