Primary voters send mixed signals about what they want from the Democratic Party

VPM | By Michel Martin and Elena Moore

Published August 13, 2026 at 10:59 AM EDT

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Democrats are clear on the goal. They want to win back control of Congress this November.

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But throughout primary season, the party has faced high-profile divides over its future. Coming up, we’ll ask the cheif political adviser to independent Senator Bernie Sanders about the divide among Democratic voters in the wake of primaries this month in three Midwestern states. We begin with an overview of the latest results.

MARTIN: NPR political reporter Elena Moore has been following it, and she’s with us now. Good morning, Elena.

ELENA MOORE, BYLINE: Good morning.

MARTIN: So now that the Democratic primaries in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin are over, what would you say is the key takeaway?

MOORE: Yeah. Well, for months, we’ve seen leftist candidates pull off upsets in a handful of solidly blue House districts, running on an antiestablishment message focused on affordability concerns. What made these races, Michel, notable is candidates were running on a similar message but putting it to a much broader statewide audience, and the results were mixed.

MARTIN: OK. So talk us through that.

MOORE: Well, let’s start last week in Michigan, where Abdul El-Sayed defeated Congresswoman Haley Stevens in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate there. El-Sayed pitched himself as a populist political outsider, and he had the backing of key progressives like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. He drummed up a lot of enthusiasm. And heading into Election Day, the polls indicated he had a sizable lead, but that’s not what the results showed. He won, but only by a single percentage point – a little over 15,000 votes. And, you know, make no mistake – a win is a win. But those results show how divided this party is. I mean, it was virtually a 50/50 split.

MARTIN: And it also shows that the polls are not that great in primaries – in state primaries, we’re saying. Let’s be clear on that. OK. And this week, there was another race where this dynamic played out – the Wisconsin governor’s race. What happened…

MOORE: Right.

MARTIN: …There?

MOORE: Yeah. I mean, this was another really close race, decided by less than 4,000 votes. Ultimately, the establishment pick, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, narrowly defeated state Representative Francesca Hong, a self-described democratic socialist.

And people had been comparing Hong’s candidacy to El-Sayed in Michigan, but there were some key differences. I mean, for one, Hong had fewer endorsements from national progressives. She also faced criticism for past comments supporting things like defunding the police and abolishing prisons, positions other leftist candidates have avoided. So running on this antiestablishment message may be politically popular right now, but the messenger still matters, too.

MARTIN: And let’s go to Minnesota now. What stands out there?

MOORE: Well, it was an example that, you know, this intraparty fight is manifesting in different ways, right? Like, take the Democratic primary for Senate there, where we saw the state’s lieutenant governor, Peggy Flanagan, decisively beat Congresswoman Angie Craig. And Flanagan established herself as the more progressive candidate. But in the end, one of the big things that defined this race was the issue of immigration. Specifically, Craig faced criticism over her vote for a bill that makes it easier for immigration officers to detain and deport people without legal status.

MARTIN: So where does all this leave Democrats as they start to shift from primary season to general election mode?

MOORE: Right. Well, the general election is all about growing your coalition. But that only matters if Democrats show up, and in full. It’s clear these antiestablishment candidates are reenergizing a part of the base that has felt disconnected from the party in recent elections. But that could come at a risk of alienating other key parts of the base. And, Michel, when you’re looking at tossup races this fall, Democrats can’t afford to have any voter stay home.

MARTIN: That is NPR political reporter Elena Moore. Elena, thank you.

MOORE: Thank you, Michel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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Michel Martin

Michel Martin is the weekend host of All Things Considered and host of the Consider This Saturday podcast, where she draws on her deep reporting and interviewing experience to dig in to the week's news. Outside the studio, she has also hosted "Michel Martin: Going There," an ambitious live event series in collaboration with Member Stations.

Martin came to NPR in 2006 and launched Tell Me More, a one-hour daily NPR news and talk show that aired on NPR stations nationwide from 2007-2014 and dipped into thousands of important conversations taking place in the corridors of power, but also in houses of worship, and barber shops and beauty shops, at PTA meetings, town halls, and at the kitchen table.

She has spent more than 25 years as a journalist — first in print with major newspapers and then in television. Tell Me More marked her debut as a full-time public radio show host. Martin says, "What makes public radio special is that it's got both intimacy and reach all at once. For the cost of a phone call, I can take you around the world. But I'm right there with you in your car, in your living room or kitchen or office, in your iPod. Radio itself is an incredible tool and when you combine that with the global resources of NPR plus the commitment to quality, responsibility and civility, it's an unbeatable combination."

Martin has also served as contributor and substitute host for NPR newsmagazines and talk shows, including Talk of the Nation and News & Notes.

Martin joined NPR from ABC News, where she worked since 1992. She served as correspondent for Nightline from 1996 to 2006, reporting on such subjects as the congressional budget battles, the U.S. embassy bombings in Africa, racial profiling and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. At ABC, she also contributed to numerous programs and specials, including the network's award-winning coverage of Sept. 11, a documentary on the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas controversy, a critically acclaimed AIDS special and reports for the ongoing series "America in Black and White." Martin reported for the ABC newsmagazine Day One, winning an Emmy for her coverage of the international campaign to ban the use of landmines, and was a regular panelist on This Week with George Stephanopoulos. She also hosted the 13-episode series Life 360, an innovative program partnership between Oregon Public Broadcasting and Nightline incorporating documentary film, performance and personal narrative; it aired on public television stations across the country.

Before joining ABC, Martin covered state and local politics for the Washington Post and national politics and policy at the Wall Street Journal, where she was White House correspondent. She has also been a regular panelist on the PBS series Washington Week and a contributor to NOW with Bill Moyers.

Martin has been honored by numerous organizations, including the Candace Award for Communications from The National Coalition of 100 Black Women, the Joan Barone Award for Excellence in Washington-based National Affairs/Public Policy Broadcasting from the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association and a 2002 Silver Gavel Award, given by the American Bar Association. Along with her Emmy award, she received three additional Emmy nominations, including one with WNYC's Robert Krulwich, at the time an ABC contributor as well, for an ABC News program examining children's racial attitudes. In 2019, Martin was elected into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for outstanding achievement in journalism. She is the 2021 recipient of PMJA's 2021 Leo C. Lee Award.

A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Martin graduated cum laude from Radcliffe College at Harvard University in 1980 and earned a Master of Arts from the Wesley Theological Seminary in 2016.

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