A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Five states hold primary elections today. The marquee race will be in Michigan, where Democrats see holding an open Senate seat as essential to reclaiming the chamber.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
First, Democrats decide where to place their bet. In a primary, they choose between two candidates to take on Republican Mike Rogers.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR congressional reporter Sam Gringlas joins us from Petoskey, Michigan. Sam, what's it been like on the campaign trail?
SAM GRINGLAS, BYLINE: A, I've talked with maybe 50 voters in the last two weeks from the Detroit River to Lake Michigan, at a UAW picnic, local Democratic clubs, community events. And it is hard to overstate how tense this race has become. And a big reason for that is because it has turned into this proxy for so many of the debates roiling the party right now - you know, establishment versus insurgent, further left versus more moderate.
MARTÍNEZ: So speaking of that, where do the two candidates sit on those lines?
GRINGLAS: There is Congresswoman Haley Stevens. She flipped a suburban House district in 2018 and has focused on her crossover appeal and support for Michigan manufacturing. She's got support from Michigan heavyweights like Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
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HALEY STEVENS: You know, I'm just beating MAGA four times in my congressional races. And I'm passing laws, and I'm doing damn good work. We don't need wish lists. We need action now.
GRINGLAS: Stevens' opponent is former public health official Abdul El-Sayed. He's backed by the left's biggest stars, like Senator Bernie Sanders, and is running on Medicare for All and eliminating corporate money from politics. He has criticized millions of dollars from the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC flooding the race against him.
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ABDUL EL-SAYED: Problem too often with the Democratic Party is that we have an instinct to say the right thing, but we're bought off by the people who are on the side of doing the wrong thing. And so we're constantly hedging and pulling punches.
GRINGLAS: And so this race will test whether a candidate on the left, like El-Sayed, can prevail in a battleground state.
MARTÍNEZ: Sam, you mentioned all of these tensions. How would you describe the common theme in this race?
GRINGLAS: The prevailing feeling I am hearing is frustration, even anger. This is Alysa Diebolt, chair of the Macomb County Democrats.
ALYSA DIEBOLT: People are pissed. Gas is expensive. Groceries are expensive. Healthcare's insane.
GRINGLAS: She says the voters hungry for change now are not always motivated by leftist politics. It's more demand for candidates who will buck the system, not do the same old, same old.
MARTÍNEZ: OK. So how is that kind of filtering into how voters are thinking about their choice?
GRINGLAS: Yeah. So I met so many voters truly struggling with their vote. On a Lake Michigan beach, Elizabeth Shaffer (ph) told me holding the seat is what matters.
ELIZABETH SHAFFER: Who has the best chance of beating the Republican? That's going to be my biggest priority.
GRINGLAS: But up the beach, Madison Miles (ph) decided she just didn't want to think that way anymore.
MADISON MILES: I just want to vote for who I think will be the best representative for me and my beliefs.
GRINGLAS: Now, pundits and politicians will try to make inferences from what happens in Michigan. One Democrat I talked to, Joel Rutherford (ph), said none of this will matter in 2028 if Democrats win both chambers this fall and fail to deliver.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. Now, what else will you be watching today?
GRINGLAS: I'm also keeping tabs on primaries in Michigan's governor's race and several competitive House seats. It is also primary day in Kansas, Missouri, Washington and Virginia. One race I'm watching is in the St. Louis area, where former Congresswoman Cori Bush is challenging Representative Wesley Bell from the left - another test of how much an antiestablishment mood is powering this political moment.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR congressional reporter Sam Gringlas in Michigan. Sam, thanks.
GRINGLAS: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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