Article written by SBAM’s Advocacy team.
Tuesday night marked the most recent benchmark in what has already been an eventful election year. National outlets closely tracked the results from the highly contentious Democratic Primary for US Senate, as former Detroit Health Official, Abdul El-Sayed faced off against Congresswoman Haley Stevens to succeed outgoing US Senator Gary Peters. Beyond the headline race, separate results locked in the two main candidates running to be Michigan’s next Governor, determined candidates for pivotal congressional races, and determined major party nominees for over 100 state legislative races.
SBAM’s Advocacy Team tracked the results of Tuesday’s contests, and we have provided our insights into the most important races below. As a reminder: SBAM’s Small Biz PAC has engaged in some of the races discussed. The Small Biz PAC has endorsed 74 candidates for the State House and State Senate and will consider endorsement in statewide races that affect Michigan’s small businesses. The PAC does not engage in federal elections and does not make endorsements in Congressional and US Senate races.
Michigan Legislature
Going into the evening, SBAM’s Small Biz PAC had made endorsements in 59 State House races and 15 State Senate races. Endorsees displayed a strong showing, with 97.3 percent of endorsed candidates advancing to the general election ballot.
Our PAC didn’t just play it safe, either. Ten incumbent endorsees faced primary challenges and all ten defeated their opponents. Seven candidates received the Small Biz PAC endorsement as non-incumbents in open primaries. These candidates were each identified as the most pro-small-business candidate in their primary race. While Frank Liberati (2nd House District) and Mark Polsdofer (28th Senate District) unfortunately fell short of victory, five of the seven candidates advanced to the November ballot, where they are each considered heavy favorites to represent their district.
Winning candidates include:
- Lynn Afendoulis – 90th House District
- Chris Moraitis – 20th Senate District
- Donni Steele – 23rd Senate District
- Doug Wozniak – 24th Senate District
- Matthew Bierlein – 26th Senate District
With the November slate set, the Small Biz PAC will continue to monitor the races that will determine legislative majorities come January. For more information, please visit the 2026 Small Business Election Center. (https://www.sbam.org/2026-small-business-election-center/)
Race for Michigan’s Next Governor Locked In
There was little suspense heading into the primary about what two names would lead the top of the ticket in November, and results confirmed the expected outcome.
On the Republican side, Congressman John James emerged victorious over business guru, Perry Johnson, defeating him by nearly 15%. Across the aisle, Democratic Secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson, defeated her opponent, Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson, winning in all 83 Michigan Counties. While neither result was particularly shocking, Benson’s 66-point win over Swanson far exceeded most expectations, and strong Democratic turnout (1.5 million votes cast in the gubernatorial Democratic primary versus 900,000 on the Republican side) displayed the seemingly large enthusiasm gap between Democrats and Republicans heading into November.
El-Sayed Defeats Congresswoman Stevens – Will Face Rogers this Fall
Michigan became the center of attention on Tuesday as politicos across the country watched to see which Democrat will face former Congressman Mike Rogers in the general election – Former Detroit Health Officer Abdul El-Sayed or Congresswoman Haley Stevens. This primary became the most expensive Senate primary election in history, as the two sides became representative of a broader conflict playing out across the Democratic Party, with El-Sayed representing the new age, grassroots wing of the party, and Stevens embodying the establishment.
Recent polls from weeks past suggested El-Sayed would cruise to victory, with some surveys showing El-Sayed leading by nearly 20 points. When voters cast their ballots on Tuesday, the results were much closer. While El-Sayed was eventually declared the winner mid-morning Wednesday, he did so by less than a percentage point. El-Sayed celebrated his victory but acknowledged that his next step was to build bridges and promote unity within the party, to present a united front against Mike Rogers. El-Sayed also quickly gained endorsements from Congresswoman Stevens as she conceded this morning, and Governor Whitmer, who endorsed Stevens just last week.
Notable Congressional Results
7th Congressional District – Climate activist and Bernie Sanders-backed William Lawrence will face off against Republican Congressman Tom Barrett for control of Michigan’s 7th District. Lawrence defeated former Ukraine Ambassador Bridget Brink and Navy SEAL Matt Maasdam. Maasdam recently received the endorsement of Senator Elissa Slotkin, who served the mid-Michigan swing district before her run for Senate, yet her endorsement was not enough to keep Maasdam from finishing third. Brink and Maasdam finished with 29% and 28% respectively, allowing Lawrence to fully capture the progressive vote in the district and cruise to victory with 44% of the vote.
8th Congressional District – In the biggest surprise of the evening, Thomas Smith, who suspended his campaign last month, defeated Trump-backed Amir Hassan in the 8th Congressional District Republican primary. It is not often in the last ten years that we see a Trump-backed candidate lose in the Republican primary, much less to a candidate who has already exited the race, but now Thomas Smith will be the one taking on Congresswoman Kristen McDonald Rivet, in a race that Republicans were hoping to make competitive prior to yesterday’s contest.
10th Congressional District – The Macomb County-centered 10th Congressional District is viewed as one of Democrats’ prime pickup opportunities this fall after Congressman John James left the seat to pursue his bid for Governor. On the Republican side, son of Oakland County Sheriff Mike Brouchard, Mike Brouchard Jr., received President Trump’s endorsement and cruised to victory Tuesday. Democratic voters selected Christina Bertrand Hines, a Macomb County resident and former prosecutor, over former state lawmaker Tim Greimel and lawyer, Eric Chung.
13th Congressional District – Congressman Shri Thanedar lost his bid for reelection to State Representative Donavan McKinney. Although Thanedar became known for regularly introducing articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, he was unable to fend off McKinney, who ran to his left and pulled out a narrow 3-point victory. Detroit activists have spent years trying to unseat Thanedar, arguing that the Congressman did not represent the district, and they now have their wish, with McKinney in prime position to be the district’s next Representative in D.C.
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