Egyptian immigrants’ son who made US Senate history in Michigan
DETROIT — Abdul El-Sayed, a Michigan physician and the son of Egyptian immigrants, has become the first Muslim elected to the United States Senate. The 42-year-old Democrat defeated Republican former congressman Mike Rogers to retain the seat of retiring Senator Gary Peters in a state Donald Trump won in 2024.
El-Sayed, a former health director for Wayne County, campaigned for Medicare for All, a proposal to provide publicly funded health coverage to every American. His victory answered a question that had divided his own party: could a candidate from its progressive wing win a statewide race in Michigan? “You took a chance on the unlikeliest of candidates,” he told supporters in Detroit early on Wednesday.
A primary rival backed his Republican opponent
El-Sayed had narrowly beaten Congresswoman Haley Stevens for the Democratic nomination in a primary that attracted nearly US$60 million in outside spending. On Sunday, two days before the general election, Stevens endorsed Rogers. El-Sayed also faced attacks over his Muslim faith during the campaign. In his victory speech, he addressed parents who had struggled to explain to their children why the president would mock someone’s name or how they prayed.
Republicans had reason to believe the seat was within reach. Rogers had narrowly lost Michigan’s other Senate race to Democrat Elissa Slotkin in 2024, even as Trump carried the state in the presidential contest. This time, Peters’s retirement gave Rogers a second opportunity without an incumbent to beat.
By holding Michigan while gaining seats elsewhere, Democrats regained control of the Senate. El-Sayed will join Slotkin in January as one of Michigan’s two senators, serving in a majority with the power to scrutinise Trump’s cabinet and judicial nominees during the final two years of his presidency.
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