Abdul El-Sayed won the Michigan Senate race, defeating Republican Mike Rogers. El-Sayed will become the first Muslim to serve in the U.S. Senate when he takes office in January.
El-Sayed narrowly won the Democratic primary in August against establishment-backed U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, overcoming $30 million in AIPAC spending on Stevens's behalf. During the general election, he faced Islamophobic attacks from Republicans, including President Donald Trump, who called him a "jihadist Muslim Brotherhood member" who would create "a nightmare of violence and terror" in the U.S.
Stevens initially endorsed El-Sayed after the primary but reversed course two days before the general election, endorsing Rogers instead. Stevens said El-Sayed had not done enough to condemn an ad by a super PAC that critics called antisemitic. Other Jewish Democrats, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, supported and defended El-Sayed.
El-Sayed's platform reflects the Sanders wing of the Democratic Party. He opposes billionaire and corporate influence, backs Medicare-for-all, wants to abolish ICE, and supports a full arms embargo on Israel.
El-Sayed first ran for office in 2018 in the Michigan gubernatorial primary, where he lost to Gretchen Whitmer. He is a Rhodes scholar, epidemiology professor, and former health director of Wayne County. After the Gaza war began, he became disillusioned with the Biden administration's Israel support and voted "uncommitted" in the 2024 Democratic primary, later endorsing Kamala Harris.
Rogers, the GOP nominee, is a former member of Congress and onetime FBI agent who narrowly lost Michigan's other U.S. Senate race in 2024.