Democrat Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan's open U.S. Senate seat, defeating Republican former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, and will be the first Muslim U.S. senator when he takes office in January. He declared victory before supporters in Detroit early Wednesday.
El-Sayed succeeds retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, so the seat stays with the party. Holding it adds to a Senate majority Democrats had already won by taking seven Republican-held seats, including Maine and Iowa. Going into the election, the Senate's party division was 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats and 2 independents who vote with Democrats, which puts the Democratic side at 54 seats in January if Minnesota's open seat also stays Democratic.
How the race ended
"They tried to confuse you," El-Sayed told the Detroit crowd. "I love America. I know exactly what America gave to me."
His religion had come up late in the race. At an Oct. 25 rally for Rogers in Port Huron, President Donald Trump told the crowd he was there "to keep a jihadist … Muslim Brotherhood member from becoming a United States senator," according to Michigan Advance. For Rogers, it is a second Senate loss in two years. He lost the 2024 race to Elissa Slotkin, now Michigan's senior senator.
Who Abdul El-Sayed is
El-Sayed ran as a progressive and is closely aligned with Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. He has said he wants to expand the Affordable Care Act into a Medicare for All system, end the war in Iran and renegotiate the U.S. relationship with Israel.
He will be sworn in with the other new senators when the next Congress convenes in January.
