Voters say they're worried about the cost of living, and affordability is a leading issue in 2026 campaigns. The three Senate candidates competing in Michigan for the Democratic nomination are making different pitches about how to address rising costs.
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Doctors wish they wouldn'tEPA ends credits for automatic start-stop vehicle ignition, a feature Zeldin says 'everyone hates'Colorectal cancer is rising in younger adults. Here's who is most at risk and symptoms to watch forRFK Jr. pledged more transparency. Here's what the public doesn't know anymoreOne Tech Tip: Take your iPhone security to the extreme with Lockdown ModeHere’s what dermatologists are saying about your skin care routine: Keep it simplePalestinians look to salvage Gaza's history from the ruins of Israel's military offensiveQue empiece la fiesta: Alcalde de Río entrega llave de la ciudad al rey Momo al iniciar el Carnaval Doctors wish they wouldn'tEPA ends credits for automatic start-stop vehicle ignition, a feature Zeldin says 'everyone hates'Colorectal cancer is rising in younger adults. Here's who is most at risk and symptoms to watch forRFK Jr. pledged more transparency. Here's what the public doesn't know anymoreOne Tech Tip: Take your iPhone security to the extreme with Lockdown ModeHere’s what dermatologists are saying about your skin care routine: Keep it simplePalestinians look to salvage Gaza's history from the ruins of Israel's military offensiveQue empiece la fiesta: Alcalde de Río entrega llave de la ciudad al rey Momo al iniciar el CarnavalThis combination of photos shows Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., Feb. 6, 2025, in Washington, left, Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago, center, and Abdul El-Sayed in Detroit on July 28, 2018. Michigan State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, a candidate for the U.S. Senate, speaks during a campaign event on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, at Churchill’s Food & Spirits in Flint, Mich. Promotional materials on a table during a campaign event for Michigan State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, a candidate for the U.S. Senate, on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, at Churchill’s Food & Spirits in Flint, Mich. U.S. Senate candidate for Michigan Abdul El-Sayed greets visitors during a town hall, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025, in Lincoln Park, Mich. U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, a Democrat running for U.S. Senate in Michigan, tours a plumbing and pipefitting apprenticeship program workshop at UA Local 85 in Saginaw, Mich., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. This combination of photos shows Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., Feb. 6, 2025, in Washington, left, Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago, center, and Abdul El-Sayed in Detroit on July 28, 2018. This combination of photos shows Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., Feb. 6, 2025, in Washington, left, Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago, center, and Abdul El-Sayed in Detroit on July 28, 2018. Michigan State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, a candidate for the U.S. Senate, speaks during a campaign event on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, at Churchill’s Food & Spirits in Flint, Mich. Michigan State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, a candidate for the U.S. Senate, speaks during a campaign event on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, at Churchill’s Food & Spirits in Flint, Mich. Promotional materials on a table during a campaign event for Michigan State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, a candidate for the U.S. Senate, on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, at Churchill’s Food & Spirits in Flint, Mich. Promotional materials on a table during a campaign event for Michigan State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, a candidate for the U.S. Senate, on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, at Churchill’s Food & Spirits in Flint, Mich. U.S. Senate candidate for Michigan Abdul El-Sayed greets visitors during a town hall, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025, in Lincoln Park, Mich. U.S. Senate candidate for Michigan Abdul El-Sayed greets visitors during a town hall, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025, in Lincoln Park, Mich. U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, a Democrat running for U.S. Senate in Michigan, tours a plumbing and pipefitting apprenticeship program workshop at UA Local 85 in Saginaw, Mich., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, a Democrat running for U.S. Senate in Michigan, tours a plumbing and pipefitting apprenticeship program workshop at UA Local 85 in Saginaw, Mich., Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. fought his way back to the White House in 2024, he capitalized on simmering economic discontent in political battlegrounds such as Michigan. Now Democrats are trying to harness those same concerns, which have lingered as people across the countryThe only question is how to do it. That nationwide challenge is especially urgent in Michigan, where three Democrats are running in the U.S. Senate primary in August.— are making different pitches to voters, and their success or failure will help determine the party’s fortunes in the November midterm elections, when control of Congress is at stake. The party’s chances of winning back control of the Senate will become much harder without retaining the seat held by retiring, a former congressman seeking a Senate seat for the second time. In 2024, he lost by 19,000 votes to DemocratWearing a welding helmet and gloves, Stevens moved in close toward flying sparks as a plumbing apprentice showed off his welding technique at a union training workshop in Saginaw. Her suburban Detroit district is part of the automobile hub central to Michigan’s economy and workforce. She is building off her relationships with organized labor and campaigning against Trump’s tariff strategy, saying the president is hurting the state’s manufacturing sector and driving up prices across the board. “He’s been more focused on cutting deals all over the world than cutting deals here in Michigan, and now we have job insecurity and in some cases job loss,” Stevens said in an interview. Stevens introduced herself to students at their work stations and asked questions about their projects, such as carefully connecting pipes with tightly fitted grooves as an alternative to welding. At one station, three apprentices showed the congresswoman paper sketches of plumbing construction designs. She told them how important their careers will be as existing infrastructure ages. She promised that she will find the money to hire people to fix it.After the tour, Stevens sat around a table with union leaders. Speaking over whirring machinery, she sympathized with the complexity of providing health care benefits. Justin Pomerville, the business manager at UA Local 85, said that the “far left” and the “far right” are failing to improve things in politics, a complaint that dovetailed with Stevens’ efforts to pitch herself as a moderate.A crowd of Democrats recently packed into a dimly lit side room of Churchill’s Food & Sprits in downtown Flint. “Jesse’s Girl” played over the speakers as McMorrow’s team shuffled chairs to squeeze in a few more people before she took to the microphone. The lawmaker has hosted campaign stops at various breweries around the state. Her favorite beer is a blood orange honey ale from the Cheybogan Brewing Co. She got into politics after Trump’s victory in 2016, and she was first elected in 2018. McMorrow is in the state Senate’s Democratic leadership and has gained national recognition for a few viral moments in recent years, including bringing ato the party’s national convention in 2024. She is running with a new motivation this time around for the sake of her 5-year-old daughter.“When something’s working, you expand on it,” McMorrow said in an interview. “I think there’s a huge opportunity where Michigan has done a lot of things right that we can ensure every American benefits from.”“We need another Debbie Stabenow,” Breasbois said in an interview, referencing Michigan’s longtime agriculture champion in the U.S. Senate who retired in early 2025. “Mallory, she’s got that spunk.”El-Sayed, a physician and former county health official, delivered a diagnosis for the cost of living problem at a recent town hall: corporate greed. About 100 people turned out at a community college in Detroit in late January on a brutally cold night. El-Sayed, who finished far behind the current governor,, led the crowd in a chant he uses to begin and end his rallies: “Money out of politics, money in your pocket, Medicare for all.” El-Sayed has long campaigned for Medicare for all, a slogan that champions universal health care. In recent weeks, he has started adding an asterisk, saying that people should be able to obtain additional coverage from their union or employer. The discussion at the gathering often circled back to the high cost of health care, something he chalks up to corporate entities and their lobbying powers. “In an era where union membership is near an all-time low and in an era where inequality is near an all-time high, we have to recognize that these two things are not a coincidence, they are one in the same problem,” he said from a small stage where campaign staff and volunteers filmed from multiple angles for social media. In an interview, El-Sayed said he has been talking about the cost of living for years, while other candidates, Democrats and Republicans alike, are just now getting on board with the affordability focus. Natasha VanGessel, a medical assistant from Royal Oak who sat in one of the first rows at the town hall, has followed El-Sayed since he ran for governor in 2018 and regularly tunes into his podcast, called America Dissected.Volmert covers Michigan government and politics for The Associated Press, with a focus on women in state government. She is based in Lansing.
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