El-Sayed wins Michigan Senate seat

The Associated Press called the Michigan Senate race Tuesday, declaring Democrat Abdul El-Sayed the winner against Republican Mike Rogers. El-Sayed, 42, will take his seat in Washington as the first Muslim American to serve in the U.S. Senate. He defeated Rogers, who lost his first bid for the same seat in 2024.

El-Sayed’s path to victory began in 2018, when he first ran for Michigan governor. He later served as a public health official, leading health departments in Wayne County and the city of Detroit. In the primary this year, he narrowly defeated Rep. Haley Stevens by about one percentage point. That primary race drew attention from state leaders, including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and retiring Sen. Gary Peters, who both backed Stevens.

The general election campaign focused on cost of living and corporate influence in politics. El-Sayed campaigned on passing single-payer healthcare and curbing money in elections. He is not a democratic socialist, though he received backing from prominent figures on the political left. During the primary, he campaigned with left-wing streamer Hasan Piker. He also faced scrutiny over comments made after a truck-ramming attack at a synagogue preschool in metro Detroit, for which he later apologized.

In the final days of the general election, Stevens reversed her earlier stance. She announced an endorsement for Rogers after initially saying she would support the Democratic ticket. Polls during the campaign showed a tight race, despite Democrats having held the Michigan Senate seat since 1979. Rogers, a former Republican representative, tried to distance himself from some of President Trump’s policies as November approached, including the war in Iran.

Trump endorsed Rogers early in the race. Rogers had previously embraced some of the president’s claims about election fraud, despite having condemned them after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. El-Sayed criticized his opponent and other Republicans for using Islamophobic rhetoric against him. He described the election as a test of how an antiestablishment candidate on the left would fare in a perennial Midwest battleground.

El-Sayed is a Michigan native who has signaled he intends to be a prominent voice in the Democratic Party. He noted that Michigan holds a prime position in the presidential nominating process for 2028. The result ends a closely watched contest that tested the direction of the Democratic Party after two years out of power.