A new Michigan poll shows Republican Mike Rogers narrowly leading Democrat Abdul El-Sayed for Senate as voters sour on the nominee’s socialist ties and left-wing brand.

Republican Mike Rogers holds a slim lead over Democratic Senate nominee Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed in a fresh survey of Michigan likely voters, even as several earlier public polls had shown the Democrat ahead. The Breitbart report on the findings, drawn from a poll obtained by the Washington Reporter, puts Rogers at 44.4 percent and El-Sayed at 43.1 percent, with 3.9 percent backing a third-party option and 8.5 percent undecided.

The margin sits inside the survey’s 4.7-point error range. Still, the numbers mark a shift from recent surveys that gave El-Sayed the edge, including a Washington Post, Schar School poll with a narrow lead for the Democrat, an Emerson College survey showing him up two points, and a Rasmussen Reports poll putting him ahead by three.

Torchlight Strategies conducted the interviews September 15, 19 for Common Sense for America PAC, whose honorary chair is Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana. The firm spoke with 643 likely voters through live calls and text-to-web interviews. Economy and prices topped the issue list, named by 52.6 percent as the most important problem facing the country.

Voters rate El-Sayed unfavorably by double digits

More than half of the voters surveyed, 50.4 percent, view El-Sayed unfavorably. Only 39.8 percent view him favorably. When told about his history with the Democratic Socialists of America, 52.7 percent said that record would make them less likely to support him.

The DSA itself fares worse. The group draws a 51.9 percent unfavorable rating against just 25.5 percent favorable. El-Sayed, the former Wayne County health director, has drawn backing from Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, a DSA member. He says he does not identify as a democratic socialist.

Rogers has framed the contest in blunt terms. He described his opponent as the “Democratic Socialists of America darling right now” and cast the race as “crazy versus common sense.”

"They believe that they can move the state and the country, by the way, to be more accepting of this socialism,"

Rogers said. The association with left-wing streamer Hasan Piker has also drawn scrutiny in coverage of the race.

Democratic divisions over progressive figures and online allies have already surfaced in other contests, including cases where Fetterman admits Democrats cannot distance themselves from Piker’s rhetoric.

Governor’s race stays inside a single point

The same survey tested the Michigan governor’s race and found Democrat Jocelyn Benson at 42.2 percent and Republican Rep. John James at 41.1 percent. That contest, like the Senate matchup, remains statistically tight.

National Democrats have struggled to present a unified front in high-profile races this cycle. Party rifts over messaging and personnel have deepened in public view, a pattern also visible when Fetterman dropped his earlier criticism of Piker as internal tensions grew.

El-Sayed’s primary path already exposed those fault lines. Progressive support collided with establishment preferences, and the primary fight drew national attention when Warren broke with Schumer to back the progressive over the preferred alternative.

Rogers treats the race as a clear choice on socialism

Rogers is running against a nominee whose brand sits well to the left of the median Michigan voter. The poll’s DSA question and the lopsided unfavorable numbers suggest that brand carries a cost. Michigan voters have repeatedly shown they care first about costs at the pump and the grocery store. A candidate tied in the public mind to democratic socialism starts with a credibility problem on that terrain.

Earlier polls that showed El-Sayed leading did not erase the favorability deficit now on display. A majority still rates him negatively. A majority says the DSA history would push them away. Those figures matter more than a one-point snapshot inside the margin of error.

Close Senate votes in Washington have already shown how narrow margins decide real outcomes, including when four Senate Republicans broke ranks on a war-powers measure that still fell short. Michigan’s Senate race looks headed for the same kind of grind.

Common Sense for America PAC paid for the survey, and the results reflect that partisan sponsorship. Even so, the raw favorability and DSA reaction numbers give Rogers a concrete argument: voters have already rendered a judgment on the left edge of the Democratic Party, and El-Sayed sits on that edge.

Michigan remains a battleground where the economy dominates and ideological labels carry weight. A nominee who has to explain away socialist associations while prices remain the top voter concern faces an uphill sell. Rogers is betting common sense still beats the alternative, and this poll says a plurality of likely voters is willing to take that bet.