{"id":21025,"date":"2026-07-29T14:44:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T09:44:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=21025"},"modified":"2026-07-29T14:44:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T09:44:42","slug":"serious-clusterfck-dems-marvel-at-their-own-disastrous-primary-in-key-house-swing-district","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=21025","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Serious Clusterf*ck\u2019: Dems Marvel At Their Own Disastrous Primary In Key House Swing District"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5622140\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5622140\" class=\"size-large wp-image-5622140\" src=\"https:\/\/am14.mediaite.com\/med\/cnt\/uploads\/2025\/04\/AP25078763359724-1200x800.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-5622140\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u00a0(AP Photo\/Paul Sancya, Pool, File)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Michigan&#8217;s Democratic House primaries are drawing national attention as Democrats strive to flip GOP-held seats while also managing escalating internal tensions between moderates and progressives.<\/p>\n<p>According to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/07\/28\/michigan-primary-slotkin-lawrence-brink-maasdam\">new report<\/a> by Axios, moderate Democrats and party leaders find themselves unable to rally behind a single candidate\u2014a source of increasing fragmentation and hostility.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a serious clusterf*ck,&#8221; an anonymous Michigan state legislator told Axios. &#8220;I am just sitting back eating popcorn because now it&#8217;s so f*cked up it&#8217;s just, &#8216;Let&#8217;s just enjoy this.&#8217;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Among the key battlegrounds is Michigan&#8217;s seventh district as three Democratic candidates fight to take on Rep. <strong>Tom Barrett<\/strong> (R-MI), who currently holds the seat. Barrett only won his last election by one point in the key swing district.<\/p>\n<p>The candidates are\u00a0<strong>Bridget Brink<\/strong>, a foreign policy-oriented candidate who served as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from 2022 to 2025; <strong>William Lawrence<\/strong>, a <strong>Bernie Sanders<\/strong>-backed progressive candidate; and Navy SEAL <strong>Matt Maasdam<\/strong>, who served as a military aide to former President <strong>Barack Obama<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. <strong>Elissa Slotkin\u00a0<\/strong>(D-MI) has rallied behind Maasdam.<\/p>\n<p>Citing text messages and multiple sources, Axios reported Slotkin has not only endorsed his campaign but has allegedly &#8220;lent her name to his fundraising texts and paid for internal polling on his behalf.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Women&#8217;s [Caucus] went apesh*t,&#8221; an unnamed senior House Democrat told Axios of Slotkin&#8217;s endorsement. &#8220;And I mean apesh*t.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Axios reported that many Michigan Democrats are frustrated as Slotkin&#8217;s move could cut into Brink&#8217;s lead and create an opening for Lawrence, but Slotkin&#8217;s team has pushed back against the criticism.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;<\/strong>Senator Slotkin is singularly focused on one thing: flipping her old seat from red back to blue. Her entire goal is to help win back the House and put a real check on President Trump,&#8221; spokesperson <strong>Josh Stewart\u00a0<\/strong>told Axios.<\/p>\n<div class=\"\" data-turn-id-container=\"request-WEB:e1bad6cb-92b7-416d-b79e-9a7ac22caa0f-1\" data-is-intersecting=\"true\">\n<section class=\"text-token-text-primary w-full focus:outline-none has-data-writing-block:pointer-events-none [&amp;:has([data-writing-block])&gt;*]:pointer-events-auto R6Vx5W_threadScrollVars scroll-mb-[calc(var(--scroll-root-safe-area-inset-bottom,0px)+var(--thread-response-height))] scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]\" dir=\"auto\" data-turn-id=\"request-WEB:e1bad6cb-92b7-416d-b79e-9a7ac22caa0f-1\" data-turn-id-container=\"request-WEB:e1bad6cb-92b7-416d-b79e-9a7ac22caa0f-1\" data-testid=\"conversation-turn-4\" data-turn=\"assistant\">\n<div class=\"text-base my-auto mx-auto [--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-xs,calc(var(--spacing)*4))] @w-sm\/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-sm,calc(var(--spacing)*6))] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-lg,calc(var(--spacing)*16))] px-(--thread-content-margin)\">\n<div class=\"[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] @w-lg\/main:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1 group\/turn-messages focus-visible:outline-hidden relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn\" data-conversation-screenshot-content=\"\">\n<div class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col gap-4 grow\">\n<div class=\"min-h-8 text-message relative flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 text-start break-words whitespace-normal outline-none keyboard-focused:focus-ring [.text-message+&amp;]:mt-1\" dir=\"auto\" data-message-author-role=\"assistant\" data-message-id=\"d3481437-7a65-42fa-a93b-635b551e243d\" data-message-model-slug=\"gpt-5-5\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden\">\n<div class=\"markdown prose dark:prose-invert wrap-break-word w-full light markdown-new-styling\">\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"239\">The Michigan Democratic Senate primary has also been a hot topic as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/politics\/michigan-democrat-abdul-el-sayed-fumes-about-his-cnn-interviews-i-get-a-non-consensual-colonoscopy\/\">progressive candidate<\/a> <strong>Abdul El-Sayed <\/strong>faces Rep. <strong>Haley Stevens\u00a0<\/strong>(D-MI) in a bruising contest to take on a Republican in a state Trump won in 2024.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/politics\/serious-clusterfck-dems-marvel-at-their-own-disastrous-primary-in-key-house-swing-district\/\">\u2018Serious Clusterf*ck\u2019: Dems Marvel At Their Own Disastrous Primary In Key House Swing District<\/a> first appeared on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\">Mediaite<\/a>.<\/p>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0(AP Photo\/Paul Sancya, Pool, File) Michigan&#8217;s Democratic House primaries are drawing national attention as Democrats strive to flip GOP-held seats while also managing escalating internal tensions between moderates and progressives. According to a new report by Axios, moderate Democrats and party leaders find themselves unable to rally behind a single candidate\u2014a source of increasing fragmentation&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/am14.mediaite.com\/med\/cnt\/uploads\/2025\/04\/AP25078763359724-1200x800.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsweek-trending"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21025\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/21026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}