Democrat Abdul El-Sayed has won Michigan’s open US Senate seat, defeating former Republican lawmaker Mike Rogers and becoming the first Muslim elected to the chamber. US television networks called the contest early Wednesday, November 4, with El-Sayed holding a lead of nearly six percentage points.
The 42-year-old medical administrator will succeed retiring Senator Gary Peters, securing a key seat for Democrats. His election also makes him the first Democratic doctor to serve in the Senate since 1969. Hundreds of supporters celebrated at his election headquarters in Detroit, embracing and shouting as he addressed them. “Michigan, we did it!” El-Sayed declared.
Health care was central to El-Sayed’s campaign, which combined a promise of universal coverage with pledges to reduce the influence of money in politics and respond to voters’ economic difficulties. On the eve of the election, he told Michigan voters they should be able to consult a doctor without facing a huge bill, promising changes to the country’s for-profit medical system.
His campaign attracted large crowds across Michigan, including in strongly Republican communities. Union activists supplied organizing support to help him reach the state’s large organized labor community. At the Detroit celebration, those activists mingled with supporters and left-leaning social media personalities as guests watched election results on MS NOW and cheered Democratic victories.
The race also brought a late challenge from within his own party. Congresswoman Haley Stevens, whom El-Sayed defeated in the Democratic primary, endorsed Rogers shortly before the election. Republicans meanwhile sought to portray Democrats as communists and attacked El-Sayed by labeling him a terrorist who would put Americans at risk.
President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance directed Islamophobic attacks at El-Sayed and mocked his Arabic name during the campaign. In his victory speech, El-Sayed addressed Vance directly, telling him that he was “constitutionally obligated to swear me in in January”.
Among those celebrating was Trunetta Roach, a 75-year-old entrepreneur who credited sustained campaign work and expressed relief at young voters’ participation. She said she had worried that they were disengaged but had been proved wrong. Maryam Bozai, a 28-year-old micro-influencer, described the importance to her of seeing ethical Muslims representing their community in politics.
Eboni Taylor, a vice-president at Higher Heights, which promotes Black women seeking office, highlighted El-Sayed’s willingness to campaign beyond familiar Democratic territory. Speaking during the celebrations, she said he had visited places where she would not have expected to see him and had gone where people wanted him to be.
