00:01Abdul El-Sayed has won Michigan's Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, narrowly defeating establishment candidate Haley Stevens in a
00:10victory for the party's progressive wing in the battleground state.
00:14Stevens called El-Sayed to concede on Wednesday and she issued a statement saying she would back El-Sayed's candidacy.
00:20This country of ours, this America of ours is more than a flag, it's more than a set of colors.
00:26If you're a patriot, then you better fight for an America that is America for all of her kids. That's
00:34what this is about, building a movement to take our democracy back to serve the people who absolutely deserve the
00:41best of what America has to offer them.
00:43El-Sayed overcame tens of millions of dollars in outside spending supporting Stevens, including a record intervention by groups aligned
00:51with the influential pro-Israel lobby AIPAC.
00:54His win, however slim, represents a significant shift for the Democratic Party, as he campaigned on Medicare for all, halting
01:02military aid to Israel and campaign finance reform.
01:05He had support from progressive leaders, including Senator Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who framed the race as a
01:13grassroots-focused movement and broader fight against the establishment.
01:17He now faces the more difficult challenge of uniting the party to defeat Republican candidate Mike Rogers in November, for
01:24a seat considered essential to Democratic hopes of regaining the Senate, where the party must defend Michigan while gaining four
01:31Republican-held seats.
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