Live updates: El-Sayed and Stevens locked in tight race in Michigan Senate primary

Abdul El-Sayed is expected to address supporters later tonight, regardless of whether Michigan’s closely watched Democratic Senate primary has been called, CNN’s Arlette Saenz reported from the campaign’s election watch party. A campaign aide told attendees that El-Sayed, who has been watching returns alongside family members and advisers, would speak no later than 1 a.m. local time, while noting that he could appear sooner if a winner is declared. The campaign had initially hoped the race would be called earlier but pointed to the slow pace of vote counting in Wayne County as results continue to come in. Even as the contest has tightened, campaign officials say they remain optimistic about El-Sayed’s chances. Supporters were encouraged to remain at the venue as organizers worked to keep the crowd energized while the vote count continued. As the calendar flips to Wednesday, there will be two key factors to watch over the coming hours as the Michigan Senate primary heads towards a conclusion. So far, Abdul El-Sayed is winning about six in ten Election Day and early in-person votes, while Rep. Haley Stevens is winning a nearly the same share of mail votes. There are more mail ballots to count than other types. If those margins hold, and as CNN currently estimates, just over half of the votes counted in the race are mail, the race would be quite close. Then there’s Wayne County. CNN currently estimates that about 30% of the outstanding vote in the race is from the state’s largest county, the home of Detroit. That’s far more than any other county. Currently Stevens is winning a slight majority of the vote in Wayne, but her lead has shrunk as more Election Day votes from Detroit and votes from heavily Arab-American Dearborn came in. Dearborn, where El-Sayed – who is Egyptian American – won more than three-quarters of the vote, has finished reporting for the night. As primary night extends into Wednesday ET, several notable state and general election matchups have been set in Virginia, Missouri, Kansas, Michigan and Washington state. If you’re just joining us, here’s a recap of the latest results, as projected by CNN’s Decision Desk: Kansas: Republican state Senate President Ty Masterson, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, and Democrat state Sen. Cindy Holscher will go head-to-head in the race for governor after winning their primaries. Beating out 10 other candidates, Methodist pastor Adam Hamilton will win the Democratic Senate primary. He will face incumbent GOP Sen. Roger Marshall in November, who Hamilton wasted no time attacking in his victory speech. Missouri: Rep. Wesley Bell will defeat progressive former Rep. Cori Bush in a reprise of their 2024 battle for the Democratic nomination in the state’s 1st Congressional District. Bush struck a defiant tone in her concession speech, while Bell gave a message of unity and said the “fight is just starting.” State Sen. Rick Brattin will win the Republican primary in Missouri’s newly redrawn 5th District. He secured Trump’s influential endorsement the day before the election. Voters rejected Republican-backed measure that would’ve made it much harder for them to amend their state’s constitution. Michigan: Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who will win the Democratic nomination for governor, promised to stand up to “bullies” such as Trump in her victory speech. Her opponent in November will be Rep. John James, who was backed by the president and thanked Trump in his speech. Former Rep. Mike Rogers will be the Republican nomination for US Senate in Michigan. He ran virtually unopposed after state Republicans coalesced around his campaign after he was endorsed by Trump. In the 10th District, Trump-endorsed US Army veteran Mike Bouchard will win the Republican primary. In the battleground 7th District, Sunrise Movement co-founder William Lawrence will win the Democratic primary, marking the latest victory for the party’s rising progressive wing. Washington: Incumbent Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez, a Democrat, will advance to the general election in the state’s 3rd District. Her opponent will be Republican state senator and retired Navy captain John Braun, a staunch supporter of Trump’s agenda. CNN’s Katie Doran, Dejania Oliver, David Wright, Tori B. Powell, Ethan Cohen, Morgan Leason, Patrick Svitek, Arpita Dasika, August Phillips and Isa Mudannayake contributed reporting. Rep. Wesley Bell opened his speech tonight after his projected victory, acknowledging there has “been a lot of noise” during his campaign run for Missouri’s 1st District. “There’s a lot of chatter,” Bell said. “There’s national headlines, and everybody has an opinion.” But amidst it all, Bell thanked his team — “a tremendous group of folks” — for their work. He also thanked local faith leaders, volunteers and the voters. Bell also said during his speech that his campaigning team “approached this from a very simple — in a very simple way: We are going to work for the people right here in St. Louis.” Looking ahead to the general election in November, Bell said “the fight is just starting,” and that he will “work with anyone who will work with us.” Remember: CNN’s Decision Desk projected earlier tonight Bell would defeat progressive former Rep. Cori Bush. It was a reprise of their 2024 battle for the Democratic nomination in the district. Last cycle, Bell, a former St. Louis County prosecuting attorney, ousted the two-term congresswoman by less than 6%, launching the primary challenge as Bush faced scrutiny for her criticism of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza following Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attacks on the country. As the Michigan Democratic Senate primary tightens, the race could come down to the state’s largest county. And if it does, the race could take hours to be resolved. Wayne County, which is the largest in the state and is home to Detroit, is notoriously slow to report votes. As of about 11 p.m. ET, about a quarter of the estimated vote is in. That’s actually ahead of where the county was at this time in November 2024, when it had only reported only about 15% of its votes. That year, the county didn’t get above 50% reporting until about 4 a.m. ET, and followed with significant reports at around 5 and 6:30 a.m. Currently, moderate Rep. Haley Stevens is winning nearly six in ten Wayne votes, but most of the vote reported in the county so far is mail from the city of Detroit. There’s also enormous diversity within the county. Stevens is currently winning about two-thirds of the vote in Detroit, while El-Sayed is winning nearly nine in ten votes in Dearborn, which is heavily Arab American. Hasan Piker, the leftist influencer and pro-Palestinian activist, rebuked the Democratic establishment as he attended progressive Abdul El-Sayed’s election night party in Michigan. “They might have the money, but we have the people,” Piker, an an El-Sayed supporter, told CNN’s Arlette Saenz. He also called out the tens of millions spent by outside groups on the Senate primary, including more than $30 million by the super PAC arm of AIPAC, backing Rep. Haley Stevens. He charged the group with a “heinous smear campaign” and said that El-Sayed has run an “issues-first campaign” that the hoped “Democrats can learn from.” Piker also downplayed concerns about El-Sayed’s general election prospects, arguing that “Michigan is not a purple state.” “It’s only considered a purple state because the establishment Democrats dropped the ball twice. In both instances, Donald Trump came in like a wrecking ball because there was a lot of appetite for change,” he said. And Piker, who has himself courted controversy with his outspoken criticism of Israel, also rejected the notion that his support for El-Sayed could be a general election liability. “No, I do not think that I would be a liability in the general election,” he said, “although it does seem like the Republican Party’s midterm strategy is going to be a Hasan Piker-focused campaign strategy, and that is precisely the type of politics that people are sick and tired of.” There were mixed reactions as the most recent round of results were shown on screen at Abdul El-Sayed’s campaign party in Detroit. The crowd booed when they saw Missouri Rep. Wesley Bell defeated former Rep. Cori Bush, a democratic socialist, in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District. When TV screens showed two progressive Michigan House candidates, William Lawrence in the 7th District and Donavan McKinney, a democratic socialist in the 13th District, leading in their races, the crowd once again turned to cheers. The fervor became more muted as attendees saw a new batch of votes were dropped in the Senate race, showing a tightening in the contest between El-Sayed and Rep. Haley Stevens. But overall, the crowd has remained upbeat, and shortly after, Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party, took the stage to rally the crowd. “We are changing the balance of power in this country and in this state,” Mitchell said, listing other progressive candidates leading their race across the country. “If you’re part of the pissed-off majority, there’s a place for you in this movement,” he said. “This movement is not slowing down –– not tomorrow, not this year, not ever.” CNN’s Karina Tsui contributed reporting to this post.