Socialist insurgents eye Midwest gains as Dem civil war threatens must-hold Senate seat

By Fox News · Fox News

DETROIT, MI - The high-stakes fight between the left-wing and the center-left establishment for the future of the Democratic Party is front-and-center on Tuesday in Michigan's primary. Boosted by a string of victories this spring in mostly blue congressional districts across the country, the Democrats' ideological war moves to the Great Lakes battleground state , where progressive victories could reshape the party and endanger must-hold seats in the midterm elections . Also at stake as Michigan joins Kansas, Missouri, Virginia and Washington State in holding mid-summer primaries is President Donald Trump' s immense clout over the GOP and the power of his endorsements in Republican nominating contests. But taking top billing is Michigan's divisive and expensive Democratic Senate primary, which is seen as the biggest stage to date in the fierce fight for the future of the Democratic Party. THE MIDTERM SENATE RACES THAT COULD FLIP THE BALANCE OF POWER IN CONGRESS "This is ground zero in the battle for the future of the Democratic Party pitting status quo corporate Democrats against shake up the system economic fighters, and we’ll see who wins," Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), a leading group on the left, told Fox News Digital. The primary face-off pits Abdul El-Sayed , a former Wayne County Health Department director, against Rep. Haley Stevens, a more moderate candidate backed by the establishment. The race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, who is backing Stevens, is a must-hold for the Democrats and one of roughly a dozen Senate races from coast to coast that will determine if Republicans hold onto their slim Senate majority. Matt Bennett, one of the leaders at the Third Way, a leading center-left Democratic organization, told Fox News Digital the Michigan showdown is "the first time the left is competing for a swing seat" and warned, "the significance is it could really put this seat in jeopardy." El-Sayed,…