Last Tuesday night, Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive Democrat, defeated Hayley Stevens in the Democratic primary in Michigan, becoming the party’s nominee for the U.S. Senate seat in Michigan. Reporting from Reuters framed the primary between El-Sayed and Stevens as a litmus test to see which direction the Democratic Party is headed as a whole ideologically, portraying Stevens as the mainstream Democrat and El-Sayed as the progressive left. Her campaign was also heavily supported by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which spent $60 million in support of Stevens’ campaign. El-Sayed has made it clear he is not a conventional democrat, and is openly promoting the path of socialism to the people of Michigan. The implications of a potential victory for El-Sayed could impact the power dynamics Michigan brings to the Senate; Democrat Senator Gary Peters is considered to be more moderate, but if he were to be joined by El-Sayed, Michigan could turn a deeper shade of blue than seen before.