Democrat Abdul El-Sayed has won Michigan’s U.S. Senate election, according to an Associated Press race call, defeating former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers in one of the country’s most closely watched contests. El-Sayed will become the first Muslim American to serve in the Senate.
The 42-year-old former public health official built his campaign around concerns over living costs and corruption. He drew support from young and infrequent voters by advocating for single-payer health care and curbs on corporate money in politics. El-Sayed is not a democratic socialist, though prominent figures on the political left backed his campaign.
The general election followed a closely fought Democratic primary, in which El-Sayed narrowly beat Rep. Haley Stevens by about one percentage point. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and retiring Sen. Gary Peters had supported Stevens. In the closing days of the general election campaign, Stevens endorsed Rogers, after initially saying she would support the Democratic ticket.
El-Sayed’s positions on Israel also became a point of contention. Some Jewish voters were alienated by his comments after a truck-ramming attack at a synagogue preschool in the Detroit area; he later apologized. His campaign appearances with left-wing streamer Hasan Piker also drew attention.
El-Sayed accused Rogers and other Republicans, including President Trump, of targeting him with Islamophobic rhetoric. Trump had endorsed Rogers, who had embraced some of Trump’s false claims of widespread election fraud after previously condemning them. As the election approached, Rogers sought to distance himself from some of the president’s policies, including the war in Iran.
A Michigan native, El-Sayed previously led the health departments in Wayne County and Detroit. He first ran for statewide office in 2018, when he unsuccessfully sought the governorship.
Sources: NPR Politics.