Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) announced on Tuesday morning that she’s entering the Democratic primary for Michigan’s open Senate seat, setting up an intraparty showdown in one of the most consequential battleground states in the country. 

Stevens is a leading contender for the seat of retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI). She will be facing state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and Abdul El-Sayed, who led the Wayne County Department of Health, Human and Veterans Services. Former Michigan House Speaker Joe Tate, a former NFL player, is also seriously considering a run.

Stevens represents a district in the Detroit suburbs and has made supporting local manufacturing a centerpiece of her time in Congress, as well as her work in the Obama administration in supporting the auto industry recovery. 

That work took center stage in Stevens’ campaign announcement video, where she also attacked President Donald Trump, accusing him of endangering Michigan jobs and driving up prices with tariffs and other policies.

“I remember being handed the keys to my first car. I’m Haley Stevens and I bet you do too,” Stevens said in her launch video, which prominently features footage of Michigan factories. “That used Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, it meant more to me than just freedom. It meant I had a piece of Michigan. You know, the Michigan that helped build this country. The Michigan that shaped me. It’s not just what I sound like, it’s who I am.”

In a statement, Stevens’ campaign also went after White House advisor Elon Musk, accusing him and Trump of undermining essential services and endangering citizens’ private data.

Stevens is a favorite within the state’s Jewish community for her outspoken support for Israel and condemnation of high-profile antisemitic incidents at a time when many Michigan Democrats have pandered to anti-Israel activists.

She represents a sizable Jewish community in the Detroit suburbs with which she forged a strong relationship in part during her successful primary campaign against then-Rep. Andy Levin (D-MI).

But pro-Israel groups also view McMorrow as a reliable ally, and are more concerned with blocking the candidacy of El-Sayed, a Bernie Sanders-endorsed progressive who supports cutting off aid to Israel. 

Because of that dynamic, outside pro-Israel groups may not formally endorse a favorite in the Democratic primary — even as Stevens will likely benefit from widespread support from Jewish voters in the early stage of the campaign.

AIPAC and the affiliated United Democracy Project super PAC have been rumored to be planning to spend in support of Stevens despite not usually intervening in statewide races.

“Although we have not yet made a decision in this race, Rep. Stevens has emerged as a pro-Israel stalwart during her tenure in the House of Representatives,” AIPAC spokesperson Marshall Wittmann told Jewish Insider.

Stevens also boasts an electoral record that demonstrates she can win over swing voters — her district was a battleground when she was first elected in 2018 before redistricting made it more safely Democratic — along with ousting Levin, an anti-Israel Democratic incumbent, in a member-on-member primary. 

McMorrow has demonstrated a knack for earning glowing national media attention — at first through a state Senate speech in which she pushed back against accusations against her by a GOP colleague of grooming and sexualizing children and her outspoken support for abortion rights after Roe v. Wade was overturned — even though she’s only been serving as a state senator in Michigan.

In a sign of McMorrow’s attentiveness to the Jewish community, she’s returned policy papers to at least one Democratic pro-Israel group underscoring her support for Israel’s security, according to a source familiar with her outreach. She also has personal ties to the Jewish community — while she’s Catholic, her husband is Jewish and they are raising their children in a mixed-faith home.

One of McMorrow’s top advisors is Lis Smith, who engineered Pete Buttigieg’s out-of-nowhere 2020 presidential campaign and who has been a prominent critic of the party’s left-wing activist class. 

Adrian Hemond, a Michigan political strategist, told JI he views Stevens as holding significant institutional advantages in the hotly-contested primary.

Hemond noted that Stevens has been a strong fundraiser in her congressional seat and has proven her ability to win close elections, which Hemond said will be “paramount” to Democratic primary voters. Stevens also boasts a strong relationship with organized labor and Black voters in her district, Hemond added.

He acknowledged that McMorrow is “trying to position herself as somewhat more moderate” but argued that her base and brand remains strongest among progressives — and El-Sayed, with Sanders’ endorsement, is playing in the left-wing lane. 

Hemond said that El-Sayed did not prove to be a strong fundraiser in his 2018 gubernatorial race and failed to build support statewide, only winning 30% of the vote in the primary contest. But he’s well-positioned to do well with Arab-American voters in the state, and other single-issue, anti-Israel voters.

On the Republican side, former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) has already declared his second run for the seat after losing by less than 20,000 votes to Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) in 2024. He won Trump’s endorsement, giving him a critical edge against any potential GOP challengers.