El-Sayed wins Michigan Senate seat, becoming first Muslim in chamber
The 42-year-old former public health official defeated Republican Mike Rogers in a race that drew national attention.
By Jacob Reynolds ·
Abdul El-Sayed has claimed the U.S. Senate seat in Michigan, according to an Associated Press race call on Tuesday. The victory makes the 42-year-old Democrat the first Muslim American to serve in the upper chamber of Congress. He defeated former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers in a contest that served as a test for antiestablishment candidates in a key Midwest battleground.
El-Sayed, a Michigan native who previously led the health departments for Wayne County and Detroit, built his campaign on anger over the cost of living and corporate influence in politics. His platform focused on passing single-payer healthcare and curbing big money. He is not a democratic socialist, but he ran with the backing of prominent left-wing figures. His bid for the nomination was not without friction; he narrowly beat Rep. Haley Stevens in the primary by about one percentage point, despite support for Stevens from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Sen. Gary Peters.
The path to the general election was marked by internal party tensions. In the closing days of the campaign, Stevens reversed her earlier stance of supporting the Democratic ticket and instead endorsed Rogers. This shift highlighted the difficulty in uniting the state's Democratic coalition. Polls showed a tight race, even though Democrats had held the seat since 1979. El-Sayed's positions on Israel also drew criticism from some Jewish voters, particularly following a truck-ramming attack at a synagogue preschool in the metro Detroit area, for which he later apologized.
Rogers, who lost his first Senate bid in 2024, received an early endorsement from President Donald Trump. Rogers embraced some of the president's claims about election fraud, a position he held before the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. As November approached, Rogers attempted to distance himself from some of Trump's policies, including the war in Iran. El-Sayed criticized Rogers and other Republicans for using Islamophobic rhetoric against him during the campaign.
El-Sayed first entered the political spotlight in 2018 with an unsuccessful run for governor. His victory positions him as a prominent voice within a Democratic Party that is currently redefining its identity. Michigan plays a central role in the 2028 presidential nominating process, a factor that adds weight to his new role in the Senate.
Source: WUNC
