Leading Democrats quickly papered over whatever qualms they had about progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed after his win in the Michigan Senate primary was confirmed on Wednesday, instead welcoming the former public health official as their champion against the Republican nominee, Mike Rogers.

The state is now key to Democrats’s hopes of retaking control of the chamber in November’s midterm elections. Winning in Michigan would put them on the path to snarling Donald Trump’s legislative agenda and blocking his judicial nominees for the final two years of his presidency, while defeat could undermine their prospects of gaining a majority in the chamber for years to come. Rogers lost a Senate race in Michigan two years ago by a slim margin to Democrat Elissa Slotkin.

“Democrats are united by a common purpose: putting a check on Donald Trump by defeating his Republican enablers and taking back the Senate. We look forward to working with Abdul and Democrats across Michigan to win this seat in November,” the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, and Kirsten Gillibrand, who chairs the Democratic Senate campaign arm, said in a joint statement.

Schumer was among a long list of Democratic establishment figures who had rallied behind Stevens in the weeks before the vote, as polls showed her trailing El-Sayed. He ultimately prevailed but by a far slimmer margin than data indicated, winning by 48.5% to Stevens’s 47.5%.

“There’s a lot of passion and energy in these primaries, and that’s a good thing. Democrats are ready to beat Republicans across the state,” said Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who had endorsed Stevens.

“We’re all united by our shared goal of getting things done for the people in Michigan.”

The easiest path for Democrats to win back the Senate – which Republicans control with 53 lawmakers to their 47 – requires holding on to their seats in Michigan and Georgia while ousting Republicans from blue state Maine as well as three other red states.

Democratic leaders believe they have the right candidates to pull that off in North Carolina, Ohio and Alaska, but it will nonetheless be a tall order, given that all three states backed Trump in 2024, and the latter two by double-digit margins.

Michigan’s Democratic senator Gary Peters, whose decision not to seek re-election had sparked the primary for his seat, backed Stevens as his replacement but quickly endorsed El-Sayed after his primary.

“Both candidates ran strong campaigns focused on improving the lives of all Michiganders. But now it’s time to come together as a party and rally around our nominee, Abdul El-Sayed, to make sure Mike Rogers never sees the floor of the US Senate,” Peters said.

In a statement released following her loss, Stevens congratulated El-Sayed but did not outright endorse him, instead indicating she was ready to campaign for him as well as Democrats vying to win swing districts in Michigan.

“This was a thorough and rigorous campaign that brought out the full span of views within the Democratic party – and that is why we have primaries. I am proud to have put up my hand to serve, and prouder to continue to work together to make sure this Senate seat remains blue, that we flip the United States Senate and continue the work for Michigan,” Stevens said.

Republicans meanwhile pounced on El-Sayed’s views to paint him as too far left for voters in Michigan, a state that backed Trump in 2016 and again in 2024.

“The choice this November is simple: common sense or complete insanity,” Rogers said. The former congressman blamed Democrats – who have held both of Michigan’s Senate seats since 2001 – for job losses in manufacturing, while saying El-Sayed “doesn’t represent a vision for the future. He’s leading a movement grounded in ideological fanaticism.”

The question of aid to Israel animated the primary, with Stevens arguing Democrats should continue backing the US’s top ally in the Middle East and El-Sayed calling for an end to military support in response to its actions in Gaza and the West Bank.

The United Democracy Project, a Super Pac connected to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, spent more than $30m in the race to support Stevens and oppose El-Sayed, to no avail, and he now joins insurgents in Denver, New York City, New Jersey and Philadelphia in having wooed Democratic voters in part by vowing to stand up for Palestinian rights.

“Abdul’s victory is a win for everyone who supports equality, justice, and a thriving future for all,” said the IfNotNow Movement, a Jewish organization opposed to Israel’s policy towards Palestinians.

“We urge those who see Abdul’s support for Palestinian human rights and blocking weapons to Israel as a threat to our community to reconsider. It is incredibly dangerous to conflate Jewish safety with support for Aipac or Israel’s military.”

Brian Romick, president of the Democratic Majority for Israel Pac, called El-Sayed’s victory an indicator that “there is clearly strong anti-establishment energy this cycle, but no one should count pro-Israel Democrats out”.

“While El-Sayed’s razor-thin victory in Michigan is disappointing, it was hardly the sweeping triumph he predicted or a mandate for his views,” Romick said, noting that Stevens lost only narrowly.