DETROIT — Michigan state Sen. Jeremy Moss of Bloomfield has won the Democratic primary for Michigan's 11th Congressional District, according to an Associated Press race call at 9:31 p.m. on Tuesday. The contest for the seat now filled by U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens featured Moss, former Ford Motor Co. engineer Don Ufford of Bloomfield Township, attorney Aisha Farooqi of Sterling Heights and John ...

Jeremy Moss during a session of the Michigan State Senate at the state Capitol on Feb. 2, 2023, in Lansing, Michigan.

David Guralnick/The Detroit News/TNS

DETROIT — Michigan state Sen. Jeremy Moss of Bloomfield has won the Democratic primary for Michigan's 11th Congressional District, according to an Associated Press race call at 9:31 p.m. on Tuesday.

The contest for the seat now filled by U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens featured Moss, former Ford Motor Co. engineer Don Ufford of Bloomfield Township, attorney Aisha Farooqi of Sterling Heights and John Paul Torres of Waterford.

Moss, now that he has won the primary, is likely to win election to the safely blue seat in November. The 11th District became more favorable to Democrats after redistricting in 2022 and now covers Oakland County communities such as Pontiac, Royal Oak, Birmingham, Farmington Hills and West Bloomfield Township.

More: Key election results for the Michigan primary

The state lawmaker will likely become Michigan's first openly gay member of Congress.

"Thank you Oakland County! It’s the honor of a lifetime to be your democratic nominee," Moss said in a social media post.

Moss was the most experienced politician in Tuesday's primary for the 11th District. He is the top Democrat in the Michigan state Senate and has served in the chamber since 2019.

He was backed by several Democratic leaders in the state, including outgoing Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, gubernatorial candidate and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, former Gov. Jim Blanchard and Attorney General Dana Nessel.

"Jeremy has fought for working families in the Michigan Legislature, and he will continue that fight in the halls of Congress. His commitment to lowering healthcare costs, tacking the cost of living crisis, and protecting our rights is as critical as ever," Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Curtis Hertel said in a statement.

He added: “I’d like to thank each of the candidates in this Democratic primary for fostering a competitive and substantive race — primaries make our party stronger. As we look to November, I look forward to coming together to elect Jeremy Moss to Congress.”

Ufford consistently tried to differentiate himself from Moss by linking his opponent to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel group that has become increasingly controversial among Democrats, and calling out Moss' acceptance of campaign donations by corporate political action committees.

The former head of Global Vehicle Engineering at Ford was endorsed by Arab American PAC, a Dearborn-based political group, and End Citizens United, a national organization focused on stopping corruption and reforming campaign finance laws.

Moss ($1.4 million) outraised Ufford ($1 million), according to disclosures that cover through July 15. Moss also got a last-minute boost from outside groups spending money on ads to influence voters.

Think Big, a pro-AI group linked to the founders of OpenAI and Palantir Technologies, spent about $300,000 to support Moss in recent days. He was also supported by $100,000 since July 1 from Equality PAC, the political arm of the Congressional LGBTQ Equality Caucus.

Farooqi was considered to be a longshot candidate heading into Tuesday, though she did raise more than $400,000 to support her bid. Torres raised about $150,000 for his bid, including a $56,000 loan to his campaign.

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