Three Democrats are competing to fill Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat, but one appears to be leading, according to a new poll conducted from May 1-7, 2026.
Abdul El-Sayed is leading with 28 percent of the vote, followed by Haley Stevens at 18 percent and Mallory McMorrow at 17 percent, according to a statewide poll by Michigan Information and Research Service conducted from Mitchell Research and Communications.
El-Sayed has been endorsed by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and controversial podcaster Hasan Piker.
The poll surveyed 405 likely voters in the August Democratic Primary Election.
Thirty-eight percent are undecided. Earlier polls had shown Stevens and McMorrow in a statistical dead heat, with El-Sayed just a few points behind.
In the race for Governor, Jocelyn Benson polled at 62 percent while Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson polled at eight percent. About 30 percent are undecided.
“It has generally been the rule that the most liberal Democrats vote in a Democratic Primary and the most conservative Republicans vote in a Republican Primary. With El-Sayed tacking far left, and in opposition to both the United States and Israel in Gaza and Iran, El-Sayed is running as the most progressive and liberal candidate. Democrats saw the impact of the strong leftist progressive wing of their party take over the Democratic Nominating Convention held to determine Democratic nominees for state-wide office, like secretary of state, attorney general, and statewide education board seats. Piker, considered by many to be anti-Semitic, is probably a primary reason for El-Sayed’s movement upward in the Democratic Primary. Polling in 2024 showed a plurality of Democratic voters supported Palestinians in the Palestinian Israeli war. We see evidence of that same type of backing in the support El-Sayed is receiving in the Democratic Primary,” Steve Mitchell, CEO of Mitchell Research and Communications, said in a statement.
The poll was conducted May 1-7, 2026. It was conducted entirely by text messaging a randomly selected list of registered voter’s cell phones and directing them to a SurveyMonkey poll (MMS-Web).
Mirs-mitchell Dem Primary Press Release 5-11-26 150pm_a by scott.mcclallen
The poll has a Margin of Error of + or – 4.9 percent at the 95 percent level of confidence.
The infighting between Democrat candidates has heated up after a report exposed McMorrow deleted thousands of tweets, many of which insulted Michigan and the Midwest.
Now, El-Sayed is under fire after he’s marketed himself as a physician, yet he never passed his boards, finished residency, or practiced medicine in the real world outside of higher education.
NEW: Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed for years has publicly said he’s a physician — but there’s overwhelming evidence that he’s had no experience as a licensed medical doctor. (W/ @adamwren) https://t.co/QZA7trhMH9
— Daniel Lippman (@dlippman) May 12, 2026
Referring to yourself as a licensed medical professional is not a ‘right you earn.’ It’s a qualification you obtain through a rigorous standardized process, one that Abdul El-Sayed simply did not complete. https://t.co/auVPiOsQjk pic.twitter.com/kyHzSorKl9
— Rodericka Applewhaite (@Rodericka) May 12, 2026
