The Democrats need to win Michigan… so why is it splitting the party?

Americast

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Friday, 31 July 2026 - 34 minutes

The Democrats almost certainly need to win the Senate race in Michigan if they are to take control of Congress in November’s midterm elections but picking a candidate is exposing a stark choice for the party. Next week party members in the state will decide between a left wing candidate backed by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and a centrist candidate backed by establishment Democrats like Gretchen Whitmer. It's opened up a debate about whether the success of other progressive candidates like Zohran Mamdani could be replicated across the country as the Democrats build a strategy to take on the Republicans at the midterms and beyond.Just how important is the race in Michigan for the Democrats, and will the outcome have an outsized role in deciding how they approach the 2028 presidential election?HOSTS:- Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter
- Sumi Somaskanda, BBC News chief presenterGET IN TOUCH:- Join our online community: https://discord.gg/qSrxqNcmRB
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- Or use #AmericastThis episode was made by George Dabby with Alix Pickles. The technical producer was Ben Andews. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.If you want to be notified every time we publish a new episode, please subscribe to us on BBC Sounds by hitting the subscribe button on the app.You can now listen to Americast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Americast”. It works on most smart speakers.US Election Unspun: Sign up for Anthony’s BBC newsletter: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-68093155Americast is part of the BBC News Podcasts family of podcasts. The team that makes Americast also makes lots of other podcasts, including Newscast. If you enjoy Americast (and if you're reading this then you hopefully do), then we think that you will enjoy some of our other pods too. See links below.Newscast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/p05299nl
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