Last week, Peters brushed off the fact that El-Sayed seemed to have a double-digit lead for the Democratic primary despite the consolidation of support. “Polls are all over the place,” he told The Independent, though he said “I’ll support the Democratic nominee.” El-Sayed won, but by a much smaller margin than expected - and a tighter race than many other progressives have experienced in recent weeks. open image in gallery Abdul El-Sayed pulled off a squeaker victory in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary. Kerr also said that progressives and leftists focus more on beating moderates than they do on beating Republicans.