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<\/figure>\n\nThere is little chance that Democrats will take control of the Senate without winning Michigan\u2019s open seat in November.<\/p>\n
And that is why there is a growing concern among some Democrats that polls are consistently finding Abdul El-Sayed<\/b>, a former local health official who lost a previous gubernatorial bid, at or near the top of the three-person August primary race.<\/p>\n
We explored this dynamic with our colleague Erin Cox<\/b> today \u2014 you can read our full report here<\/a> \u2014 which found Democrats are hopeful the Senate could be in play this year and worried they could drop the ball in Michigan.<\/p>\n Abdul El-Sayed has outflanked Rep. Haley Stevens<\/b> and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow <\/b>from the left, boosted by a populist agenda and endorsements from Sen. Bernie Sanders <\/b>(I-Vermont) and liberal lawmakers. The concerns among Democrats can be distilled pretty easily: Michigan backed Donald Trump<\/b> last cycle and only narrowly elected Sen. Elissa Slotkin <\/b>over former representative Mike Rogers<\/b>, who will again be the Republican nominee this November. So, <\/b>their thinking goes, nominating someone who has staked out a far-left position on Israel\u2019s war in Gaza, campaigned with controversial figures that Republicans will demonize in November and is strident in his liberalism could doom their chances in this must-win seat.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a familiar dynamic \u2014 establishment Democrats often worry that candidates too far left on the party\u2019s spectrum could hurt the party in November.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is real concern that Abdul would not be able to beat Rogers and then potentially lose us a majority possibility in the Senate,\u201d said Lon Johnson<\/b>, a former chair of the Michigan Democratic Party and Stevens supporter.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not just thinking with our hearts but with our heads,\u201d said Debbie Stabenow<\/b>, a Democrat who represented Michigan in the Senate for 24 years.<\/p>\n Stabenow recently endorsed Stevens, one of a number of high-profile endorsements that appear aimed at stemming El-Sayed\u2019s rise.<\/p>\n So what does El-Sayed think?<\/p>\n \u201cI would rather them keep saying it, honestly,\u201d El-Sayed said in an interview with Cox about the way other Democrats are worried about him. \u201cI think people in Michigan are like, \u2018Wow, we hate politics, and if politics hates that guy, he might actually be the one for us.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The pressure on this race has only amplified the divisions in the primary, turning the race into a sometimes messy fight that Democrats think will only get messier ahead of the August primary.<\/p>\n In a debate last week, El-Sayed was brash when attacking his opponents, hitting them on everything from their fundraising to their support for Israel. Stevens, the more establishment pick who is the preferred candidate of people like Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer<\/b>, stumbled during the debate at times, at one point arguing she was for getting rid of the filibuster in the Senate before saying Democrats should have used it to stop legislation. McMorrow trained most of her fire on El-Sayed \u2014 at one point suggesting he was mostly talk without the ability to actually get his plans done \u2014 a sign that she knows her success is likely tied to his failure.<\/p>\n Both Stevens and McMorrow were also careful about how they talked about El-Sayed in interviews with us.<\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t spent years trying to become a talking head or have a podcast or sell a best-selling book or something like that. I have been writing laws and passing laws and helping Michiganders and fighting for them,\u201d Stevens said, referring to El-Sayed\u2019s books and podcast. \u201cI\u2019m in the strongest place to beat Mike Rogers.\u201d<\/p>\n But Stevens went out of her way not to say El-Sayed\u2019s name.<\/p>\n McMorrow was slightly more direct.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a path for Democrats to take back the Senate, but not without Michigan,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd as I think about how purple our state is, we need to be able to pick up independents, even Republicans, who no longer see themselves in Donald Trump\u2019s MAGA party.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n We asked El-Sayed how he would feel if his detractors were right, and he won the primary but lost to Rogers, thereby costing Democrats the Senate. \u201cI\u2019m not going to lose,\u201d he said \u2014 echoing every candidate ever \u2014 but it was how he described the effort against him that really stood out to us.<\/p>\n \u201cLook at the characters who are lining up now to support the other candidates in this race. From the people who brought you the financial crisis? The early 2000s politicians trying to come and reclaim 2026? Go ahead. If people felt happy about that era of politics, we wouldn\u2019t be where we are,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n You can read our full report \u2014 A hard-charging Michigan liberal dampens Democrats\u2019 hopes of retaking Senate<\/a> \u2014 here.<\/p>\n What\u2019s a screwworm? Bad news.<\/p>\n The invasive species of parasitic fly larvae was reported in Texas this week<\/a> 60 years after it was declared eradicated in the U.S. Screw worms can burrow in the skin, causing serious illness in humans and cows.<\/p>\n They\u2019re not just gross. They can have catastrophic impacts on the food supply.<\/p>\n Farmers are already experiencing one of the worst agricultural crises in generations<\/a>, fueled by minuscule margins, high fuel costs, fertilizer shortages, wildfires and climate change. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has exacerbated matters, keeping essential agricultural supplies from reaching farmers. Family-owned farms have been going bankrupt at record paces for the past two years.<\/p> Read more Bosnia\u2019s World Cup pursuit begins at a home-away-from home in the American Midwest<\/a><\/p>\n The emergence of the screwworm is just another straw on the camel\u2019s back (worm on the cow\u2019s side?), and it has the agriculture sector freaking out.<\/p>\n The screwworm can jeopardize the beef industry, leading to higher prices when affordability is already a top issue going into November. The price of beef has already drastically increased in the past six years, with the country\u2019s cattle herd at its lowest point in 75 years. And cattle ranchers hurting with low profitability were already furious at the administration for allowing Argentine beef to flood the market last year.<\/p>\n Mind you, farmers make up an enormously important pillar of the Republican coalition and are experiencing some of the most acute impacts of the Trump administration\u2019s policies. Tariffs and the war in Iran have been brutal on exporting crops and importing fertilizer. Congress has also failed to pass a new farm bill for years, meaning vital programs to help farmers haven\u2019t been able to keep up with the changing agricultural landscape.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of farmers today have lost and are losing faith and are feeling betrayed,\u201d said Joe Maxwell<\/b>, president of Farm Action Fund.<\/p>\n Farmers haven\u2019t always been loyal to Republicans. They used to be a major part of the Democratic voting bloc, helping win blue seats in rural states during the 1980s farm crisis. Democratic Sens. Thomas Daschle<\/b> (South Dakota), Harry M. Reid <\/b>(Nevada), Tom Harkin<\/b> (Iowa) and Paul Simon <\/b>(Illinois) all flipped red seats during the crisis.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is clearly an opportunity for Democrats,\u201d Maxwell, whose group supports candidates from both parties, said. \u201cThe question is, \u2018Will the Democrats seize that opportunity to make a difference at the ballot box?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Several critics of the Trump administration have pointed to the federal government slashing initiatives under the Department of Government Efficiency. One of the cuts at the Agriculture Department: a program dedicated to monitoring and stopping the spread of the screwworm.<\/p>\n Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller <\/b>criticized the administration\u2019s response as \u201cslow, bureaucratic, and incomplete.\u201d Maxwell said most farmers feel the administration has been on a campaign to \u201cdismantle\u201d USDA, from the DOGE cuts to a 20 percent funding reduction in the president\u2019s budget request for the department.<\/p>\n Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins<\/b> told the House Agriculture Committee yesterday that cutting the program wasn\u2019t the culprit that led to the worm\u2019s resurgence. She said the department had been anticipating its revival for years and that illegal immigration during the Biden administration helped the worm\u2019s spread.<\/p>\n \u201cUnder the last administration and having the Darien Gap, which is the biological barrier between South America and Central America, which held the screwworm at bay since the 1960s, that Darien Gap crumbled under the last administration,\u201d Rollins told the committee.<\/p>\n Maxwell, whose group supports candidates from both parties, acknowledged that the administration has put money toward building a facility in Texas to combat the spread of screwworms and closed the border with Mexico to prevent the spread of further parasites. But he said linking the current resurgence with Biden-era migration made no sense given the short lifespan of a screwworm.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s unfortunate they would do that,\u201d he said. \u201cIt politicizes this issue and this is just wrong leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n Bangor Daily News<\/b>: The latest report to shake up the Maine Senate race comes from the New York Times, with three women alleging that Graham Platner<\/b> mistreated some of the women he dated and was physically intimidating<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bridge Michigan<\/b>: We have highlighted the local blowback against data centers. But there has also been local blowback against renewable energy projects nationwide<\/a>, including in Michigan, despite a state law allowing them to bypass local governments. It\u2019s a reminder that local opposition to large-scale projects such as data centers and solar farms happens all the time.<\/p>\n Spotlight PA<\/b>: Speaking of data centers, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro<\/b> released his oversight and incentive plan for data centers this week<\/a>. The plan seeks to balance the desire to bring in data centers for the economic benefits they represent with widespread local concerns about how data centers impact everything from water quality, lifestyle and energy prices.<\/p>\n The San Francisco Standard<\/b>: Silicon Valley interests put <\/b>a ton of money behind certain candidates in California this week. And, well, they didn\u2019t do well, especially San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan<\/b>, who has currently received just 4 percent of the vote in the gubernatorial primary. As this outlet writes, \u201cSorry, Silicon Valley, it isn\u2019t that easy to buy an election.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c60 Minutes,\u201d arguably the most iconic institution in television media, is in chaos after three top correspondents, including Scott Pelley<\/b>, were fired. Pelley was fired for forcefully questioning his new boss<\/a>, Nick Bilton<\/b>, and CBS News head Bari Weiss<\/b>. What do you make of the chaos at the news program? Are you worried about the future of \u201c60 Minutes\u201d? Do you watch regularly? And will you continue to watch? Let us and your fellow Early Brief readers know at earlytips@washpost.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Thanks for reading. You can follow Dan and Matthew on X: @merica<\/a> and @matthewichoi<\/a>.<\/p>