As results continue to come in in Michigan’s hotly contested Senate race, there are clear divides emerging based on class.
Former public health official Abdul El-Sayed is performing best in the state’s wealthiest and most highly educated areas — while Rep. Haley Stevens is doing better in places with lower average incomes and where fewer voters have college degrees.
Among the nearly two dozen counties where at least 95 percent of expected ballots are in, El-Sayed is winning 58.4 percent of the vote in counties where at least 30 percent of adults have a bachelor’s degree, according to a POLITICO analysis of county-level results. On the flip side, Stevens is winning 51.4 percent of the vote in counties where less than 30 percent share of adults are college-educated. El-Sayed is similarly leading Stevens in counties with higher median incomes so far, while Stevens leads in lower-income counties.
The early results reflect a trend seen elsewhere this year as Democrats debate how to win back working-class voters: At least in primaries, progressive politicians have performed best among wealthier and highly educated voters, while moderate Democrats still perform better in lower-income and less educated areas.
An exception in Michigan is Oakland County, among the most highly educated in the state, which is split roughly evenly between El-Sayed and Stevens with a bit over 90 percent of the county vote in. Most of the county is in Stevens’ current congressional district.
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