Abdul El-Sayed makes history as first Muslim elected to US Senate
DETROIT — Progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan’s open US Senate seat on Tuesday, according to media projections, becoming the first Muslim elected to the chamber while preserving a crucial Democratic seat in the party’s fight for Senate control.
El-Sayed’s victory in the closely contested election marked a breakthrough for the Democratic Party’s progressive wing and denied Republicans a chance to flip the seat of retiring Democratic Senator Gary Peters.
El-Sayed, the son of Egyptian immigrants, on Wednesday took a swipe at US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance after defeating Republican Mike Rogers, using his victory speech to highlight the irony of Vance having to formally swear him into office.
Both Trump and Vance launched Islamophobic and racially charged rhetoric at him throughout the campaign.
Addressing Vance, El-Sayed said, “Habibi, there is this delicious irony in the fact that you’re constitutionally obligated to swear me in, in January.”
He also directed a pointed message at Trump, who had repeatedly criticised him during the campaign and questioned his loyalty to the United States.
“Donald, I know you struggled with my name. So after JD swears me in in January, you can just go on to call me ‘Senator’,” he said.
His opponent Mike Rogers, 63, a former congressman and FBI agent, entered the race with strong backing from Trump and national Republicans and had sought to cast El-Sayed as a radical candidate sympathetic to Islamic extremism through alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, claims that El-Sayed denies and that remain unsupported by evidence.
Rogers also devoted significant effort to courting Jewish voters who may have been uneasy with El-Sayed's opposition to US military aid for Israel and his characterization of Israel's actions in Gaza as genocide.
But Rogers struggled to overcome voter concerns about the economy and Trump's low ratings. In the closing weeks of the race, he broke with the president on the war in Iran and the US trade dispute with Canada, arguing that ending both was necessary to help bring down costs for businesses and consumers.
El-Sayed, a former public health official, focused on lowering costs for working families and reducing corporate influence in politics. His platform included Medicare for All, a government-funded universal healthcare program championed by progressives in his party.
“To all the parents who struggled to explain why the president openly mocks someone for their name or how they pray, let them know tomorrow that the bad guys lost,” El-Sayed told cheering supporters during his victory speech.
He also repeated his core campaign messaging: on affordability, getting money out of politics, passing Medicare for All, and ending funding for foreign wars.
“It shouldn’t be this hard to pay your taxes and know that money is going to be spent on you and your kids, instead of dropping bombs on somebody else and their kids,” the 42-year-old said.
No Republican has won a Senate race in Michigan since 1994, but the retirement of two-term Democratic Senator Peters created a rare opening. The race became a focal point in the national fight for Senate control, drawing well over $100 million in advertising since the August 4 primary.
