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How Abdul El-Sayed Can Win Michigan, Plus an Election Protection Test Case

The Michigan Democratic Senate primary provided a test of the power of AIPAC and big money. John Nichols has our analysis.

Jon Wiener

August 5, 2026

Democratic candidate for US Senate Abdul El-Sayed speaks to supporters at an election-night rally on August 4, 2026, in Detroit, Michigan.(Scott Olson / Getty Images)

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How Abdul El-Sayed Can Win Michigan, Plus an Election Protection Test Case / Start Making Sense
byThe Nation Magazine

The Michigan Democratic senate primary provided a test of the power of AIPAC and big money. John Nichols has our analysis.

Also: a rehearsal for the election protection groups: the California sherriff who seized 650,000 ballots from November’s referendum, claiming he needed to recount them. Zach Roth of Democracy Docket will explain how the Chad Bianco case provides a test of one key Republican strategy for holding on to the House after the midterms.

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FThe Michigan Democratic senate primary provided a test of the power of AIPAC and big money. John Nichols has our analysis.

Also: a rehearsal for the election protection groups: the California sheriff who seized 650,000 ballots from November’s referendum, claiming he needed to recount them. Zach Roth of Democracy Docket will explain how the Chad Bianco case provides a test of one key Republican strategy for holding on to the House after the midterms.

Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: thenation.com/subscribe.

The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

The Supremes say ‘No” to Trump on Mail Voting, plus the Paramount-Warner Merger Fight / Start Making Sense
byThe Nation Magazine

Only two Justices backed Trump in the Court’s ruling blocking his efforts to enlist the postal service in restricting voting by mail in the midterms. David Cole explains why this is a huge victory, but far from the end of Trump’s effforts to undermine Democratic voting.

Also: The blue state attorneys general have succeeded in blocking the efforts of Trump’s allies at Paramount-Skydance from taking over Warners-Discovery, at least for now, but their lawsuit followed months of protests organized by, among others, Jane Fonda’s Committee for the First Amendment. Rashad Robinson has our analysis – his new book is From Presence to Power: How to take on the Fights that Matter – and Win.

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Subscribe to The Nation to Support all of our podcasts

Jon WienerTwitterJon Wiener is a contributing editor of The Nation and co-author (with Mike Davis) of Set the Night on Fire: L.A. in the Sixties.


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