Abdul El-Sayed wins senatorial race in Michigan, becomes 1st Muslim U.S. senator: AP

Abdul El-Sayed is the new senator of Michigan. The 42-year-old Democratic candidate beat his Republican counterpart Mike Rogers by a margin of almost 6%, according to the Associated Press. He is not only one of the youngest members in the U.S. Senate, but also the first Muslim senator in the country's history. Born to Egyptian immigrant parents, he was a trained medical doctor, held a PhD in public health from Oxford, and served as health director for the city of Detroit. In his victory speech, he said: "Up until about now, you might have noticed that we say 'inshallah', or God willing, whenever the outcome of this race was mentioned. But today, tonight, we can turn that 'inshallah' into an 'alhamdulillah' (praise be to God)." EL-SAYED: Michigan, we did it. And I am so proud and honored to stand here as your senator-elect from the great state of Michigan. https://t.co/wNEX6UqdCa — Acyn (@Acyn) November 4, 2026 All eyes on Michigan The battle between El-Sayed and Rogers was one of the most talked-about races in the 2026 midterm elections for various reasons. For one, the state of Michigan itself is a highly contested swing state, meaning that neither party has a strong grip on the populace. In the past few presidential elections, the state voted for Donald Trump in 2016, Joe Biden in 2020, and went back to Trump in 2024. This makes Michigan an important battleground in American politics, as compared to some other states which may be Democratic or Republican strongholds. Personal attacks However, El-Sayed's name soon spread far beyond the borders of Michigan as attacks began to mount on his race and religion. Trump himself insulted El-Sayed on several occasions, misnaming him as 'Mohamed' in one instance. In response to El-Sayed winning the Democratic primary over candidate Haley Stevens, Trump called El-Sayed a "communist loser who hates Jews and Israel", reported The Guardian. El-Sayed has also faced numerous accusations of ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamic fundamentalist organisation. He has denied those claims, emphasising that he was not running to be “a Muslim senator; I am running for Senate and happen to be Muslim.” He instead focused his campaign on the cost-of-living-crisis, adopting the slogan "Money out of politics, money in your pocket, Medicare for all", calling for universal healthcare in the U.S. Democrat positions El-Sayed has even attracted criticism from within his own party. Haley Stevens, the Democratic senatorial candidate who El-Sayed defeated in the primary, initially endorsed him. However, she later got into a dispute with him over allegations of antisemitism, reported The New York Times (NYT). She later released a video on X announcing that she was endorsing and would vote for Mike Rogers, the Republican candidate. The fallout attracted significant media attention, and Stevens was soon swiftly denounced by the Democratic establishment, who expelled her from the party, according to the NYT. As a progressive Democrat, El-Sayed is critical of U.S. support of Israel, saying that he would support any plan that "a free Palestinian people and a free Jewish Israeli people decide is the right outcome." His policy positions are also defined by his critique of corporatism, and has called for a greater wealth tax. During his campaign, he received endorsements from not only left-leaning Democrats such as Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, but also established figures including former U.S. president Barack Obama.