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By Meg Kinnard

August 05, 2026

Abdul El-Sayed has won Michigan’s Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, narrowly defeating U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens in a victory for the party’s progressive wing in a battleground state.

The real test of El-Sayed’s and progressives’ strength will now come in a November matchup against Mike Rogers, a former congressman who ran unopposed for the Republican nomination.

Plus, an AP Investigation on detention of military spouses and parents, a brewing legal battle over Dr. Anthony Fauci's testimony and a look toward Thursday's primaries in Tennessee

The Headline

Abdul El-Sayed arrives for a news conference at the Spirit of Detroit shortly after winning the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in Michigan, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Abdul El-Sayed wins Michigan Senate primary in major victory for Democrats’ progressive wing — By Joey Cappelletti and Jacqueline GaNun

The seat is pivotal to Democrats’ chances of flipping the Senate and El-Sayed will face the challenge of uniting a divided Democratic base after a bruising primary.

The race remained tight throughout Tuesday night, with a winner not declared until early Wednesday, also when El-Sayed's campaign said Stevens called to concede. In his final remarks at a primary night party before the race was called, El-Sayed said “tomorrow we begin to mend fences.”

El-Sayed’s win represents a significant shift for the Democratic Party; in 2018 he lost the gubernatorial primary to now-Gov. Gretchen Whitmer by 21 percentage points.

El-Sayed, a former health official, campaigned on “Medicare for All,” halting military aid to Israel and campaign finance reform. He had support from progressive leaders including Sen. Bernie Sanders and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who framed the race as a grassroots-focused movement and a broader fight against the establishment and big-money spending.

Stevens, a more moderate candidate, was backed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and tens of millions in outside spending, including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s largest outlay ever in a single race.

Now comes the more difficult challenge for Democrats: uniting the party to defeat Rogers, for whom Republicans have already reserved large sums of money ahead of the general election. Democrats consider the seat a must-win if they are to flip control of the Senate this year.

Dive deeper ➤

50-plus military spouses, parents detained in immigration crackdown

Army Staff Sgt. Alexis Jaramillo poses with a photo of his wife, Maisa Lopes Eliaser, a Brazilian national who is being detained by ICE, before visiting her at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, La., Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Joseph Vidrine)

AP Exclusive: Trump's immigration crackdown has detained more than 50 military spouses and parents — By Jack Brook, Safiyah Riddle and Aaron Kessler

Trump’s administration has detained dozens of parents and spouses of active-duty U.S. troops as it rolls back immigration protections for military families to pursue its mass deportation agenda, an Associated Press investigation found.

More than 50 parents and spouses of active-duty service members have been detained since Trump took office for a second term, and at least six have been deported, the AP found in the first accounting of such detentions, which the government does not track. At least eight immediate family members of U.S. service members remain in federal immigration custody.

Parents and spouses of people in the military have generally been shielded from deportation under bipartisan consensus for decades. But the AP found they’re now routinely being detained for months as they try to adjust their legal status through the policies available to service members’ close relatives and even as the military continues to recruit by advertising immigration benefits for enlistees' families.

Experts warn that the reversal could undermine military preparedness even as the U.S. is at war in Iran. It’s left military members without emotional support and caretakers for their children, delayed deployments and forced some to take leave.

Fauci's decision to invoke Fifth Amendment tees up legal debate

Dr. Anthony Fauci is sworn in before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee at the Capitol, Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)

Fauci's decision to invoke the Fifth Amendment tees up a legal debate and a contempt vote — By Eric Tucker

Fauci’s decision to invoke the Fifth Amendment before Congress will be put to the test this week as a Republican-led committee prepares to vote to hold him in contempt and refer the matter to the Justice Department.

A contempt finding could open the door to an investigation into whether Fauci had a valid constitutional right against self-incrimination when he refused to answer dozens of questions from lawmakers at a committee hearing last week focused on his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Republican senators including Rand Paul of Kentucky, who subpoenaed Fauci and has called a contempt vote for Thursday, insist that a pardon the doctor received early last year from Democratic President Joe Biden left him ineligible for Fifth Amendment protections. A Senate resolution released Tuesday asserts that Paul found Fauci's privilege claims “unsupported.”

But some legal experts say Fauci had reasons to invoke the Fifth Amendment, given the threat of potential state prosecutions and questions from Trump's administration about the validity of Biden's pardons. Any testimony from Fauci could have also prompted false-statement investigations like the ones the current Justice Department has repeatedly initiated against the Republican president's perceived adversaries.

No matter what happens, the episode raises fresh and complicated questions about Congress' ability to compel testimony from previously pardoned witnesses — and the outcome could resonate beyond Fauci.

AP Elections Spotlight: Memphis blues

Two voters fill out their ballots in Memphis, Tenn., Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Kristin M. Hall)

Tennessee voters will pick nominees on Thursday to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Bill Lee. Meanwhile, Memphis holds its first congressional primaries since the Republican-controlled state Legislature divvied up the current deep-blue, Memphis-based 9th District among three new deep-red districts.

The Republican field: U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn and U.S. Rep. John Rose both hope to leave their posts in Washington to succeed Lee. Rose will leave Congress win or lose, but Blackburn was just reelected in 2024 and can keep her seat if the primary doesn’t go her way. State Rep. Monty Fritts rounds out the field.

The Loan Ranger: Rose dipped into the personal fortune he amassed as a tech entrepreneur and floated his campaign at least $13 million.

Aside from loans, Blackburn has stayed competitive with contributions from donors as well as the $5.1 million an outside group has spent on her behalf. The group shares a Washington, D.C., address and staff with the Club for Growth Action, which received a $4.8 million contribution from Blackburn’s U.S. Senate campaign committee in May.

The T-Factor: Trump has backed both Blackburn and Rose in their previous campaigns, but he’s so far stayed mum in the race for governor.

The history: Blackburn carried every county in both her 2018 and 2024 U.S. Senate primaries. Tennessee hasn’t elected a Democrat for governor since 2006.

The New 9th: Democratic U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen represented the greater Memphis area in Congress for 20 years but ended his reelection campaign after Republicans enacted the new map.

State Rep. Justin Pearson mounted an early Democratic primary challenge against Cohen and now is a top contender for the nomination. Sen. London Lamar and former health care executive Jim Torino are also in the running. Trump has endorsed state Sen. Brent Taylor for the Republican nomination.

Voters in the new 9th District supported Trump in 2024 with about 60% of the vote, while current 9th District voters supported former Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris with about 71% of the vote.