What Abdul El-Sayed’s Michigan primary win says about AIPAC’s political influence
CHICAGO/LONDON: Abdul El-Sayed’s victory in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary was narrow in votes but outsized in political significance.
The Egyptian-American physician and former public health official defeated four-term US Rep. Haley Stevens by roughly one percentage point, after vote-counting continued into Wednesday morning.
He prevailed despite being dramatically outspent in one of the most expensive Democratic primary contests in US history.
The race was transformed into a national test of the influence of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, after the group and affiliated organizations poured more than $30 million into supporting Stevens or opposing El-Sayed.
