Gretchen Whitmer and outgoing Sen. Gary Peters, and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. El-Sayed went from political wilderness to progressive breakthroughEl-Sayed was joined Wednesday by state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, a former opponent in the Senate primary, and Curtis Hertel, chair of the Michigan Democratic Party. After losing the 2018 Democratic primary for governor to Whitmer, El-Sayed retreated into the political wilderness. The narrowness of El-Sayed’s victory also complicates any sweeping conclusions about what the result says about the Democratic Party. Stevens called El-Sayed early Wednesday to concede the race, with El-Sayed describing it as a “great conversation.”