Mark this week as another watershed moment in the fight for the future of the Democratic Party, and liberal politics. In Michigan’s hotly contested Senate race, Abdul El-Sayed, a former public health official who has become one of the most high-profile members of the left flank of the Democratic Party, defeated establishment-backed U.S. Representative Haley Stevens in a tight party primary.

It follows wins for progressive candidates in other primaries from Maine to New York to Colorado. El-Sayed's win was significant – he was the first progressive to win a statewide primary in a state that Trump carried in 2024.  

But can campaigns like El-Sayed's succeed in general elections, especially in battleground states like Michigan that Democrats need to take back control of the Senate?

Republicans have cast El-Sayed and other progressive candidates as too extreme for American voters as they seek to pivot away from voter anger over high prices. Trump has branded them as “communists.” Former congressman Mike Rogers, the Republican nominee for Michigan’s Senate race, said the difference between him and El-Sayed was “common sense or complete insanity.” El-Sayed has brushed off the attacks as the politics of distraction.

The new Democratic nominee is representative of a shift within the party - Democratic voters say they want their party candidates to track further to the left. More than seven in 10 liberal Democrats say it’s “essential” for their party’s candidates to support increasing taxes on corporations and billionaires (76%), expanding access to abortion (72%) and universal government-provided health care (71%), a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

Yet that grassroots enthusiasm hasn't fully trickled up to the party's establishment. Even as many rank-and-file Democrats embrace progressives and their policy agenda, the party's institutional wing has been suspicious and sometimes downright hostile to them, spending millions to try to slow the rise of left-wing candidates.

Leaders like New York Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the Senate, and Michigan’s Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer backed El-Sayed's opponent. By Wednesday, they were rushing to unify the party behind the victorious campaign.

But centrist Democratic groups said they will continue to oppose El-Sayed and other candidates associated with democratic socialism, moves that could alienate Democratic voters in general elections.

There’s another test for Democrats next week in Wisconsin’s gubernatorial race. Democratic Governor Tony Evers endorsed David Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive, to succeed him. But Crowley faces leftist state Representative Francesca Hong. Recent polls show Hong with a sizeable lead.

That could make races like Michigan’s and Wisconsin’s significant not just for Democrats in November, but also for the party’s 2028 presidential nomination. If progressive candidates can triumph in competitive races this November, they are likely to push for a bigger voice in party structures, directing campaign finances and shaping party strategy.

Follow Reuters/Ipsos polling on the president's approval ratings here.

Iran has warned Gulf states that any new U.S. attack on its territory would trigger retaliation against critical energy infrastructure across the region, my Reuters colleagues reported, as Tehran seeks to raise the cost of military action by threatening Washington's closest regional allies. The warning ‌was delivered through a flurry of high-level diplomatic contacts after Trump threatened on July 28 to strike Iran's energy network and infrastructure.