Haley Stevens beats Andy Levin in Democratic battle for congressional seat

The progressive wing of the Democratic Party stalled out in Oakland County Tuesday night as U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, a pragmatic centrist in the party, defeated fellow U.S. Rep. Andy Levin in a race for a newly drawn congressional district in Oakland County.

With nearly all of the vote counted in the Democratic primary as of 7 a.m. Wednesday in the new 11th Congressional District, Stevens, of Waterford, maintained a commanding 60%-40% lead over Levin, of Bloomfield Township, in a race that was one of the most brutal intraparty fights for a U.S. House seat in Michigan in recent memory.

Stevens had held the lead throughout the night and Dave Wasserman of the Cook Political Report, a political analysis site in Washington, D.C., called the race for Stevens shortly after 9 p.m.

Stevens claimed she had won in an email just before 10 p.m., though Levin's campaign didn't concede until around 10:30 p.m. The Associated Press called the race about the same time.

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"As a proud daughter of Oakland County, I can’t wait to be the first woman to represent so many communities here in the new 11th District," Stevens said in a statement. "This has been an incredible race. Voters of Oakland County, thank you. Thank you for putting your trust in me and choosing me to continue to be your voice in Washington. I am rooting for you, I am working for you, and I will never stop fighting for you.”

Levin congratulated Stevens and recognized her for running a strong campaign, saying he will support her nomination and that of other Democrats. But he also said he was a victim of "a largely Republican-funded campaign set on defeating the movement I represent no matter where I ran."

Levin's loss means that for the first time since 1979, when his uncle, the late Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., won election, next year there will be no member of the Levin family representing Michigan in Congress.

Stevens will face Mark Ambrose, also of Bloomfield Township, a veteran and financial analyst, who defeated businessman Matthew DenOtter, also of Waterford. With almost all of that vote in Wednesday morning, Ambrose led DenOtter 70.5%-29.5%.

But this district has been redrawn to give the Democratic nominee a clear edge in November's general election.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., put out a statement Wednesday morning thanking Levin for his service, saying his service will be missed. “Public service is in Congressman Levin’s DNA, and he has devoted his life to building a fairer future," she said.

Pelosi also congratulated Stevens. "House Democrats welcome her continued public service and leadership in the Congress," she said.

One of the marquee U.S. House primary races nationwide, this campaign between Stevens, 39, and Levin, 61, who both won seats in Congress in 2018, featured their far different backgrounds and different political styles. And the battle of incumbents, which got nasty, clearly split Democratic voters in the new district.

>>> Live: Michigan primary election results here

At Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, 57-year-old Suzi Grekin said she was torn between the two, believing either would do a good job representing her interests. As she headed in to vote, however, she said she had decided to cast her ballot for Stevens.

“She's female, I like to support the female candidate," Grekin said. "I felt like (Levin) went low with the attack ads and, you know, I voted for both his father (former U.S. Rep. Sandy Levin, D-Royal Oak) and his uncle (the late U.S. Sen. Carl Levin) for years and I supported him. But in this particular race, I'm going with Haley.”

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Christopher Tarnas, 59, who also was voting at Temple Israel, came to the opposite conclusion, voting for Levin.

“He’s more progressive and strong with unions and environmental issues,” he said. “(He’s from a) strong family, they’ve been around for a while.”

It was a hard-fought campaign with the candidates and outside interests pouring millions into the race as the two sought to distinguish themselves from each other.

Stevens, who was chief of staff to former President Barack Obama's auto task force that rescued General Motors and what was then Chrysler in 2009, is a wonky millennial. During her time in office she has charted a more mainstream path in her party and focused on automation and technological advances she sees as helping businesses and workers, as probably befits a candidate who managed to flip what was a reliably Republican district until four years ago.

Levin, meanwhile, is a member of one of the best known political families in Michigan history. He also is a vocal, visible member of the Democratic Party's more progressive wing; a former union organizer who is willing to challenge more centrist elements in his party when he believes they are not being bold enough. He also won endorsements from some key progressives, including Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Levin and Stevens still vote with each other, their party and President Joe Biden the vast majority of the time. But that didn't keep the campaign from becoming a hostile affair.

From the beginning, Levin's decision to run in this newly drawn, more-Democratic-leaning district — which he has lived in for decades — was the subject of carping by other Democrats who thought he should run in the neighboring 10th, even though the most reliable parts of his current district were being moved into the new 11th and the 10th is far more of a tossup.

Stevens had lived outside the district until this year, in Rochester Hills. But she grew up in the district and more of her current district is included in the new 11th than Levin's.

The campaign truly began to heat up when Levin was attacked by the Washington, D.C.-based American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and its Super PAC, the United Democracy Project (UDP), which together pumped nearly $5 million into this race on Stevens' behalf. The organizations also blasted Levin — who is Jewish — as anti-Israel despite his positions largely mirroring those of Stevens' as regards the Middle East.

The distinction between them is that Levin has been far more apt to criticize Israel for that country's policies involving Palestinians in the occupied territories and far more likely to align himself with other progressives, including U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, who has been far more critical of aid to Israel.

Stevens, too, was the subject of attacks, including an ad from a Jewish group in Washington that endorsed Levin which criticized her for accepting millions in AIPAC support when that group has also backed many Republicans who voted to decertify the 2020 election, though that wasn't the reason AIPAC provided that funding to them. The groups also got funding from Republican backers including Paul Singer and Bernie Marcus.

Levin also took Stevens to task for voting for amendments he and other progressives argued could have hurt the chances of passage of a minimum wage increase in 2019 — even though she ultimately voted to approve the bill without those changes.

In Bloomfield Hills, Janette Phillips, who said she always voted Republican until the 2016 election, supported Levin.

“He lives here, he has been committed to this area, and to his whole district, for years," she said. "Haley moved to get into this district. I just feel good about Andy. I know he really cares... he has four children, he’s a family guy, he gets it and he really wants to help us. His family history I think only helps, because he has experience in the ways of Washington, D.C.”

The argument went the other way for Peter Smith, a former Chrysler employee who was also voting in Bloomfield Hills. He cast his ballot for Stevens.

"I remembered that she (worked on) the auto bailout, she was on Obama's team, and at that point, I was with Chrysler," he said.

Contact Todd Spangler at tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @tsspangler. Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter. 

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Haley Stevens defeats Andy Levin in race for U.S. House seat