Democrats Are About to Learn Something Critical About the Party Next Week. Oh Boy.

Politics Michigan Goes to the Polls This Senate primary is about to show Democrats what they have in store. Photo illustration by Slate. Photos by Emily Elconin/Getty Images, Bill Pugliano/Getty Images, Sarah Rice/Getty Images, and U.S. Congress. Sign up for the Surge, the newsletter that covers the most important political nonsense of the week, delivered to your inbox every Saturday. Welcome to this week’s edition of the Surge, Slate’s weekly politics newsletter for closely monitoring the horse race between Trump’s approval rating and the Washington, D.C., temperature in Celsius. It’s neck and neck. You simply would not believe the amount of politics that happened this week. Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general is in limbo, but that is not hampering his ability to still serve as attorney general. Anthony Fauci went to the Senate to get yelled at. Plus, a dead man makes Surge history. But first, let’s begin with a couple of entries checking in on the socialist advance in the Midwest. 1. Abdul El-Sayed and Haley Stevens Prepare for an earthquake. The most-watched Senate primary in the country finally concludes this coming Tuesday, as Michigan Democrats choose between progressive insurgent Adbul El-Sayed and moderate Rep. Haley Stevens to go against GOP former Rep. Mike Rogers this fall. The Surge wrote about this race at length (but it reads briskly!) in a separate piece this week. If El-Sayed wins, it would be a shocking change in Democratic politics, with typically cautious Democratic voters nominating a leftist in a critical purple-state Senate race. And then we would just see have to see how that would go in November! If he were to win the general, it would prompt more risk-taking from Democratic primary voters down the road. If he were to lose, Democratic voters would quickly revert to nominating cyborg ex-Marine prosecutors selected by Chuck Schumer. A couple of polls late this week have made it clear that El-Sayed is the front-runner heading into election night. Tavern Research, which previously had Stevens up by a point in a head-to-head poll, now shows El-Sayed up by 11. And Emerson’s survey showed El-Sayed up by 15. This aligns with the developments in the race, as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who was loath to get involved in the race, jumped in to endorse Stevens late in the contest. Either the polling is wrong—that does happen sometimes—and Stevens takes on Rogers in the fall, or Michigan’s Senate contest this fall will be a fascinating test of progressive populism’s appeal in a swing state. 2. Francesca Hong Next socialist stop: Wisconsin. If you have not been paying attention to the Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial primary, allow us to introduce you to one of the Democratic establishment’s more baroque messes of this cycle. The establishment initially rallied around Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, particularly after two of her competitors dropped out to endorse her. A couple of weeks ago, though, Rodriguez dropped out due to campaign finance reporting issues—and one of those former opponents got back in. Then this week, former Lt. Gov. and Senate candidate Mandela Barnes dropped out of the race because he was lacking support (and, also, a newspaper started asking him questions about a past party investigation into sexual misconduct allegations). Watching this slapstick routine of quitters and re-enterers from a vantage point atop the polls is Francesca Hong, a state representative, part-time bartender, and Democratic Socialists of America member. She holds a dominant lead in the race against … whichever other candidates are in it on any given day. The governorship of Wisconsin is important nationally, as it oversees administrative policy in a state that frequently decides presidential elections. And now it looks like Democrats on Aug. 11 will nominate a DSA member to run against GOP Rep. Tom Tiffany. As we said in the previous entry: We’ll see how it goes! 3. Anthony Fauci What if we all pleaded the Fifth and stopped talking about this guy? Sen. Rand Paul has hated Anthony Fauci, the former top COVID adviser in the federal government, since the start of the pandemic. This week, he compelled Fauci to appear before his committee to explain what Paul believes are Fauci’s crimes: Funding gain-of-function research at the Wuhan laboratory from which COVID may have emerged, being dishonest about that before Congress, and generally being such a bossy busybody. He also secured and released Fauci’s COVID-era diary just in time for the hearing. These entries aren’t particularly flattering for Fauci, but they also don’t prove that this 85-year-old needs to be thrown in the slammer. Since some people, such as Paul, do want to throw Fauci in the slammer, though, Fauci chose to plead the Fifth during his hearing. He doesn’t really have anything to prove—President Biden already pardoned Fauci on Jan. 19, 2025, for any crimes he may have committed since the beginning of 2014. Fauci quite reasonably suspected, then, that Paul would try to catch him in some sort of perjury trap during this hearing, and decided to avoid that. Paul suggested that Fauci’s silence might be grounds to prosecute him on federal contempt or obstruction of Congress charges. All we’ll say is: That’s an interesting interpretation of the Fifth Amendment coming from a libertarian. 4. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis Will Todd Blanche get confirmed as attorney general now, later, or never? The Senate Judiciary Committee delayed its vote on Todd Blanche’s nomination to be attorney general this week. At issue are demands from panel members John Cornyn and Thom Tillis—two retiring senators that Trump helped push out the door—for Blanche to commit in writing that Trump’s $1.8 billion slush fund is as dead and buried as Blanche says it is. The White House is resisting, though, which suggests that the fund is not as dead and buried as Blanche says it is. In fact, it suggests that the president is partial to that fund. As a counterpunch, Trump suggested that he could withdraw Blanche’s nomination for now, have him stay on board through the current Congress, and resubmit him for nomination in 2027 when Cornyn and Tillis will no longer be senators. Well, whatever floats your boat, although there’s the risk that Democrats control the Senate by then. The bigger question is: Why even bother renominating him? The Justice Department’s succession plans could allow Blanche to remain as acting attorney general, enjoying the full powers of the office, indefinitely—though that’s a question that would be litigated. It’s just unusual to see Trump engaging with the Senate when there’s any potential legal avenue not to. 5. Mitch McConnell Why do Democrats want Schrödinger’s senator to resign? The Kentucky senator, who was hospitalized on June 14 after an apparent episode of cardiac arrest, released a second proof-of-life photo this week alongside a statement saying that the doctors still wouldn’t let him do anything while he continues rehabbing. His continued absence from the Senate prompted Kentucky’s Democratic governor, Andy Beshear, to call on McConnell to “directly and verbally address the people of Kentucky and provide proof of your capacity to serve, or resign.” We don’t understand Democrats demanding McConnell’s resignation. So long as McConnell isn’t able to show up for work, Senate Republicans are down a vote. Kentucky law doesn’t allow the governor to appoint an interim senator, only to call a special election, which Democrats would not win. Now, there is a question of whether that law violates the Kentucky Constitution, the United States Constitution, or both constitutions. But is that all going to be litigated by the time McConnell’s successor for a full term, who will be elected in November, takes office in January? Democrats should be encouraging McConnell to take as much time rehabbing as he wants. 6. Max Miller Years of legal drama comes to a head. This Ohio Republican representative has been in a yearslong child custody dispute with his now ex-wife, Emily Moreno, who happens to be the daughter of Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno, also a Republican. The situation exploded this year when, in a court filing, Emily Moreno accused her ex-husband of spraying her with scalding hot water, putting a gun to her head, and bearing responsibility for a fracture of their daughter’s collarbone. Miller has not only denied it all in full, he’s been vocal about it, accusing his ex-wife of mental illness and suing her and her lawyer for defamation. At one point, he accused his former father-in-law, the senator, of continuing “to fund and enable his daughter’s malicious campaign to ruin my life despite his knowledge of her mental health issues.” Emily Moreno just filed for a fresh restraining order against Miller this week for allegedly putting his hands on her lawyer. Despite all these issues—and this is on top of the many allegations that came out during his previous relationship with former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham—Miller had been floating through his reelections relatively unscathed. That may be changing. The New York Times reported that the White House, which had long had Miller’s back, is tiring of him as he can’t stay out of the headlines. His Ohio district isn’t supposed to be particularly competitive, as Trump won it by 11 points in 2024, but private polling shows him in a tight race with Democrat Brian Poindexter. If Ohio Republicans want to go Full Maine Democrat, they could replace Miller on the ballot by Aug. 5 if he withdraws. Miller does not seem like the type to go quietly, though. 7. Lindsey Graham New feat unlocked: making the Surge from the afterlife. The Senate opened debate this week on the late South Carolina senator’s legacy legislation—the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act—by an overwhelming 86–12 vote. The bill would apply new sanctions on Russia (and now Iran, at Trump’s urging). But one of its critical tools would be to give the president the power to tariff the top five buyers of Russian energy. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was in Washington this week for Graham’s funeral, personally lobbied for the legislation as critical to choking off Russia’s revenue to fund its war. Despite the lopsided procedural vote, though, the bill has torn Democrats apart. The key phrase in the previous paragraph is “give the president the power to tariff.” Congress would have trusted just about any other president in American history to use this new tariff authority responsibly and for the agreed-upon goals in the legislation. But Trump has weaponized every dormant tariff power available to him already, largely to amuse himself. Democratic critics of the legislation as it’s written argue that the text gives Trump way too much flexibility to abuse this new power, too. So what do you do in a situation where a new bill could seriously help Ukraine turn the tide against Russia, but could also give Trump a new power to abuse? Here’s what you do: You go out there and have one hell of a weekend. See you next time! Democrats Donald Trump Mitch McConnell Ohio Republicans Senate Lindsey Graham Michigan The Surge Wisconsin Anthony Fauci