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Five Democratic Senate nominees test their party's left flank in November battlegrounds

9/17/2026

Democrats have fielded far-left nominees in five competitive Senate races, and in each state Republicans have moved to capitalize.

Michigan, Texas, Maine, Minnesota, and New Hampshire each hold a contest where the Democratic primary produced a nominee whose positions have driven independent and moderate voters toward the Republican alternative, with Election Day arriving November 3.

Michigan and Texas: the two sharpest contrasts In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed won the Democratic primary over Rep. Haley Stevens by one percentage point, a result that confounded pre-election polling.

Surveys had consistently put El-Sayed ahead by double digits; the tightest projected margin was seven points.