El-Sayed defeats Rogers to win Michigan US Senate race

Democrat Abdul El-Sayed has defeated Republican rival Mike Rogers in the Michigan Senate race, becoming the first Muslim American elected to the upper chamber.

A physician who previously led health departments in Detroit and Wayne County, El-Sayed surpassed Rogers, a former congressman backed by Donald Trump, in a critical swing state that the president had carried narrowly in 2024.

According to ballot counts early on Wednesday morning, El-Sayed secured slightly over 50% of the vote, while Rogers garnered more than 47%.

El-Sayed’s campaign focused on healthcare and the cost of living for Michigan residents.

Democrat Representative Haley Stevens, who lost to El-Sayed in the Democratic primary this summer, had angered Democrats by making a surprise endorsement of Rogers just days before the election for the Senate seat vacated by retiring Senator Gary Peters, a Democrat.

Senior Democrats harshly condemned the “treason”, and Stevens’s staff resigned.

The Democratic member of the House of Representatives said the move was a reaction to “hate” and to El-Sayed’s ties with left-wing streamer Hasan Piker.

Stevens had previously characterized Rogers as a “rubber stamp” for President Trump’s “dangerous agenda”.

El-Sayed brushed aside Stevens’s shock endorsement, reporting that his campaign raised $1.2 million just four hours after the announcement.

Rogers, who narrowly lost the 2024 Senate race to Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin even as Trump carried the state, sought to portray the Democratic candidate as an “extremist”.

Trump and Vice President JD Vance visited Michigan in the days leading up to the midterms as part of a final blitz across key states.

Trump went on the offensive against El-Sayed, calling the Democratic candidate a “violent terrorist” and addressing him by his middle name, “Muhammed”.

El-Sayed responded: “I don’t care how he pronounces my name. I don’t care if he even remembers my full name. Because after November, he can keep calling me ‘senator’. I’ll be Senator Muhammed to you, buddy.”

Following the backlash, El-Sayed had taken steps to distance his campaign from Piker. Meanwhile, the Democratic nominee garnered endorsements from former President Barack Obama, former Vice President Kamala Harris, and other prominent Democratic figures in the contentious race.