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Michigan Is the DSA’s Next Test Case: Jim Pfaff on America’s Voice Live | Aug 4, 2026

Published: August 4, 2026
Network: Real America’s Voice
Analysis: Conservative Caucus President Jim Pfaff

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Five states — Kansas, Washington, Virginia, Missouri, and Michigan — kicked off the midterm season with primary elections on August 4, and the race the country was watching was the Michigan Senate primary between self-proclaimed progressive Abdul El-Sayed and centrist Haley Stevens. On America’s Voice Live, Conservative Caucus President Jim Pfaff argued the contest is bigger than one state: it is the next test case in the Democrat Socialists of America’s march through the Democrat Party, following DSA primary wins in New York and DSA-aligned candidates in Colorado. Pfaff tied El-Sayed’s rise to an anti-Israel strain he says has run through the Democrat Party for years, detected a “rising ick factor” with the DSA that Republicans could turn to their advantage, and gave Republican Mike Rogers a real chance in November.

Topics Covered

• El-Sayed vs. Stevens: The Michigan Matchup
• New York, Colorado, Now Michigan: The DSA’s March
• The Anti-Israel Component
• A Rising “Ick Factor” — and Mike Rogers’ Path
• Key Takeaways

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El-Sayed vs. Stevens: The Michigan Matchup

The host set the table: El-Sayed carries the backing of Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, while Stevens runs on experience, with a track record of serving in government affairs since about 2009 — and the biggest fault line between the two is support for Israel. El-Sayed has long expressed anti-Israel sentiments; Stevens has been a staunch supporter, on record backing more U.S. military support for Israel.

Pfaff’s breakdown started with the labels. Stevens is what is being called an establishment candidate, trying to make herself out to be something of a moderate — and, Pfaff allowed, “I guess maybe she is.” El-Sayed is a different story:

“But El-Sayed, who has gotten a lot of publicity largely because AOC and Ilhan Omar and Bernie Sanders have been spending a lot of time touting him, as you know, because of their endorsement, is trying to make himself out to be a progressive.”
— Jim Pfaff, President, The Conservative Caucus

The progressive label, in Pfaff’s telling, is the soft version. What El-Sayed really supports, he said, are Democrat Socialists of America ideals — even as the candidate tries to distance himself from the organization. The primary is therefore a conjunction between what the Democrat Party has been up to this point and a new fashion of so-called progressivism that Pfaff described as “really in the DSA socialist communist bent.”

New York, Colorado, Now Michigan: The DSA’s March

Pfaff called Michigan “really one of the test cases” — and pointed to the ones that came before it this year.

“This is just the next step in the march towards the radicalization of the Democrat Party”
— Jim Pfaff, President, The Conservative Caucus

But Pfaff added a sharp qualifier: this is not actually a radicalization of where Democrats stand politically. They stand with the Democrat Socialists of America, and in his assessment they have been doing that for years. What is changing is the packaging:

“What they are changing to is people who are willing to say so openly”
— Jim Pfaff, President, The Conservative Caucus

And in El-Sayed’s case, Pfaff said, that openness takes an anti-Semitic form — candidates who “truly want to destroy the state of Israel and replace it with a Palestinian state.” We have tracked this same dynamic — open socialism moving from the fringe to the ballot line — in our analysis of the Madison protests and what the polling says about socialism.

The Anti-Israel Component

The host pressed the point: is the anti-Israel posture part of the platform as the DSA moves into the Democratic Party, spreading through state after state? Pfaff’s answer was unequivocal — “Well, yeah, absolutely it is.” Part of it, he said, is simple opposition to Donald Trump in the Iran war. But the roots run deeper than this news cycle:

“the Democrat Party has been increasingly anti-Semitic over the last 5, 10 years”
— Jim Pfaff, President, The Conservative Caucus

Maybe longer, he conceded. The whole Obama administration was very anti-Israel in his telling — not quite as openly as what we see now, but both the Obama and Biden administrations were challenges for Israel in what they wanted to do in the United States. At the same time, Pfaff was careful about what the trend does not show: he does not believe it reflects a growing antisemitism in the broader culture, even as some antisemitism has shown up more on the right. In the Democrat Party, he said, “it’s always been” there for a long period of time.

“they truly want to destroy the state of Israel and replace it with a Palestinian state”
— Jim Pfaff, President, The Conservative Caucus

Why is it surfacing so vividly now? Pfaff pointed to the mechanics of an off-year primary: activists are more involved and make up a larger share of the electorate than in a presidential year, when everyone who identifies with a party turns out. The result is that the core of the party’s problems shows more vividly in Democrat politics this year.

A Rising “Ick Factor” — and Mike Rogers’ Path

Pfaff’s forecast is not that the DSA wave keeps building unopposed. He sees a backlash forming — and an opening for the GOP, if it will take it:

“I think I detect a rising ick factor with the DSA, and I think that’s going to accrue negatively for Democrats, which Republicans could take great advantage of if they actually wanted to act like Republicans”
— Jim Pfaff, President, The Conservative Caucus

That last clause was pointed. Pfaff noted the challenge playing out on Capitol Hill right now, where Republicans are missing some opportunities — a pattern we have documented in our analysis of the Senate Republican leadership failure. Still, his bottom line on the DSA surge: “But I think the American people are going to ultimately reject it, at least in this campaign season.”

With 30 seconds left, the host asked about Republican Mike Rogers and his chances in Michigan. Pfaff thinks they are “probably pretty good” — Rogers is an effective candidate and he is raising money. Even accounting for the state’s demographics:

“although there’s a major Islamic-oriented population in Michigan that he can draw upon, I still think that there’s a chance that Rogers pulls this off, and he certainly is going to put the right effort to do so”
— Jim Pfaff, President, The Conservative Caucus

Key Takeaways

1. Five states opened the midterms – Kansas, Washington, Virginia, Missouri, and Michigan held primaries August 4, with Michigan’s Senate race between Abdul El-Sayed and Haley Stevens as the marquee contest.
2. Michigan is the DSA’s next test case – After three DSA members took out sitting Democrat congressmen in New York’s primaries and DSA-aligned candidates emerged in Colorado, Pfaff calls El-Sayed’s run the next step in the march toward the radicalization of the Democrat Party.
3. The change is openness, not position – In Pfaff’s assessment, Democrats have stood with the Democrat Socialists of America for years; what is new is candidates willing to say so openly.
4. The anti-Israel strain is part of the platform – Pfaff says the Democrat Party has been increasingly anti-Semitic over the last 5-10 years, running back through the Obama and Biden administrations — though he does not see it reflecting the broader culture.
5. Off-year primaries expose the core – Activists make up a larger share of the electorate in an off-year election, so the party’s problems show more vividly this cycle.
6. A rising “ick factor” — and a Rogers path – Pfaff detects a backlash against the DSA that Republicans can capitalize on, and gives Mike Rogers a real chance to win Michigan despite El-Sayed’s base.

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About The Conservative Caucus:
The Conservative Caucus is a grassroots public policy action organization, formed in 1974. Headed by President Jim Pfaff, the Caucus is committed to advancing free enterprise, limited government, and traditional values.

Originally broadcast Aug 4, 2026 on Real America’s Voice.