# Money Couldn't Buy Michigan: El-Sayed Beats Stevens in Most Expensive Primary Ever

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/daily-detroit-403697/money-couldn-t-buy-michigan-el-sayed-beats-stevens-in-most-expensive-primary-ever
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/daily-detroit-403697/money-couldn-t-buy-michigan-el-sayed-beats-stevens-in-most-expensive-primary-ever.md
Podcast: [Daily Detroit](https://stenobird.com/podcast/daily-detroit-403697)
Published: 2026-08-05T22:14:20+00:00
Episode link: https://dailydetroitnewsbyte.libsyn.com/money-couldnt-buy-michigan-el-sayed-beats-stevens-in-most-expensive-primary-ever
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/dailydetroitnewsbyte/daily-detroit-aug-05-26.mp3?dest-id=497871
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/daily-detroit-403697/episodes/money-couldn-t-buy-michigan-el-sayed-beats-stevens-in-most-expensive-primary-ever
Duration seconds: 1895

## Resource

In this special post-election edition of Daily Detroit, we break down the high-stakes results from Tuesday's primary elections across Michigan. In this episode: How Abdul El-Sayed pulled off a razor-thin victory over Haley Stevens despite massive outside spending, driven by strong overperformances in places like Kent and Ingham Counties. The failure of heavy television spending and why multi-million dollar ad blitzes failed to deliver wins for Stevens and Perry Johnson over on the Republican side. Wayne County voters overwhelmingly approved a regional transit expansion, powered by strong turnout from voters under 30. Downballot, Donovan McKinney defeated Shri Thanedar in the 13th Congressional District to restore Black representation in Detroit, plus updates on victories for Justin Onwenu, Joanna Whaley, and others. Why the polling was hot garbage. Plus, we get into listener questions on general election strategy, messaging, and unifying moderate and progressive voters against Mike Rogers. Support the Show: Keep Daily Detroit fearless, independent, and free! Join our brand new $3.13 Patreon Tier today! https://patreon.com/DailyDetroit

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/daily-detroit-403697/episodes/money-couldn-t-buy-michigan-el-sayed-beats-stevens-in-most-expensive-primary-ever/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/daily-detroit-403697/money-couldn-t-buy-michigan-el-sayed-beats-stevens-in-most-expensive-primary-ever.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.