Democrat Abdul El-Sayed has won Michigan’s open US Senate seat, defeating Republican Mike Rogers and becoming the first Muslim elected to the chamber in American history. The Associated Press called the race early on Wednesday, with El-Sayed leading Rogers by 52 per cent to 46 per cent once about 85 per cent of the expected vote had been counted.
El-Sayed, 42, succeeds retiring Democratic Senator Gary Peters and preserves a seat his party needed to hold as Democrats seized control of the Senate on a night of sweeping midterm gains. His victory denied Republicans a chance to flip a battleground seat in a state Donald Trump carried by 1.4 percentage points in 2024.
A physician and former public health official, El-Sayed previously led health services in Detroit and Wayne County. Born in Michigan to Egyptian immigrant parents, he became the first Muslim candidate to win a major party’s nomination for the US Senate when he took the Democratic primary in the summer. He had previously run unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2018.
His campaign centred on lowering costs for working families and reducing corporate influence in politics, including support for Medicare for All, the government-funded universal healthcare programme championed by the party’s progressive wing. The result is being read as a breakthrough for that wing, showing that a progressive candidate can win a competitive race in a presidential battleground.
Rogers, 63, a former congressman and FBI agent backed by Trump and national Republicans, sought to portray El-Sayed as a radical sympathetic to Islamic extremism, alleging ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Sayed denies those claims, which remain unsupported by evidence, and Democrats said the attacks relied on Islamophobic tropes. Rogers also courted Jewish voters who were uneasy with El-Sayed’s opposition to US military aid for Israel and his characterisation of Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide.
In the closing weeks Rogers broke with the president over the war in Iran and the US trade dispute with Canada, arguing that ending both was necessary to bring down costs for businesses and consumers. But he struggled to overcome voter concern about the economy and Trump’s low ratings. The result remains a media projection until the state completes its official certification.
Sources: Reuters, “Abdul El-Sayed becomes first Muslim elected to US Senate”, 4 November 2026, https://www.reuters.com/world/us/abdul-el-sayed-becomes-first-muslim-elected-us-senate-2026-11-04/ ; Associated Press via Detroit Free Press, “El-Sayed claims victory, wins historic U.S. Senate race”, 4 November 2026, https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2026/11/04/el-sayed-rogers-who-won-michigan-senate-race/92501377007/
