Abdul El-Sayed becomes the first Muslim US senator
Democrat Abdul El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan in the November 3 midterms to become the first Muslim elected to the US Senate.
Democrat Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan's US Senate seat in the November 3, 2026 midterm elections, becoming the first Muslim ever elected to the US Senate. He defeated Republican candidate Mike Rogers, a former congressman and former FBI agent. According to Al Jazeera, no Republican had won a Michigan Senate race since 1994.
Who is Abdul El-Sayed?
Abdul El-Sayed, 42, a Democrat, was born to Egyptian immigrant parents and raised in the Detroit metro area. A physician and epidemiologist, he previously served as executive director of the Detroit Health Department and as Wayne County's health director. El-Sayed graduated from the University of Michigan, studied at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and earned his M.D. at Columbia University. In 2018 he ran, and lost, in the Michigan Democratic gubernatorial primary.
The election result
El-Sayed had defeated Representative Haley Stevens in the Democratic primary on August 4, 2026. According to Al Jazeera, with 95% of the vote counted in the general election he had taken over 52% (a preliminary figure; final totals were not published). The same outlet reported more than $100 million in advertising spent against him since the August 4 primary, while Time reported that AIPAC spent $42 million opposing him. The financial figures differ across sources.
A campaign of hate
During the campaign, President Donald Trump made sharp attacks on El-Sayed. Al Jazeera reported that he called El-Sayed a "jihadist," while Time reported that Trump circulated a series of inflammatory messages about his faith and background and said El-Sayed should "go through a metal detector to enter the Capitol." The exact wording of these remarks varies somewhat across sources; most were recorded as campaign-rally statements and social-media posts.
El-Sayed's statement
In his victory speech, El-Sayed said: "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." His win was noted as one of several historic firsts in the 2026 midterm elections.
