Democrat Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan's open U.S. Senate seat on November 3, 2026, defeating Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers. When he is sworn in, he will be the first Muslim American to serve in the U.S. Senate.
His victory speech became the most-watched political clip of election week, and his race was one of the most expensive and bitter of the cycle. Here is what to know.
Part of our Midterms 2026 coverage series.
- 52.5%El-Sayed (D)Unofficial, ~96% counted (Bloomberg)
- 45.6%Rogers (R)
- ~7 ptsMargin of victoryNPR
- 3:2Rogers side's spending edgeRogers and allies vs El-Sayed and allies (Detroit News)
- 1994Last GOP Senate win in Michigan
Source: Bloomberg, NPR, The Detroit News, Wikipedia. Results are unofficial until certified.
Who is Abdul El-Sayed?
El-Sayed, 42, was born in Michigan to Egyptian immigrant parents. He is a physician and epidemiologist who ran the public health departments of the City of Detroit and Wayne County. He first ran for statewide office in 2018, losing the Democratic primary for governor.
He has written on applying systems science to public health, and he testified to the U.S. Senate Budget Committee in favor of Medicare for All in 2022. Sen. Bernie Sanders has described him as a future standard-bearer for that policy.
He will replace retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, so the seat stays in Democratic hands.
What he campaigned on
El-Sayed ran on what he summed up as "money out of politics, money in your pocket, Medicare for all." His main positions:
- Health care: Medicare for All, government-funded universal coverage. His campaign said people could keep supplemental private insurance from an employer or union.
- Taxes: higher taxes on billionaire wealth.
- Campaign finance: reducing corporate and outside money in politics.
- Cost of living: he blamed the war with Iran for higher gas prices and inflation.
- Foreign policy: an end to U.S. military aid to Israel. He has described Israel's war in Gaza as a genocide, while rejecting accusations of antisemitism. After the election he said he agreed with President Trump's plan to stop aid to Israel after the end of the year.
- Immigration: he has called for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to Britannica.
The case his opponents made
Rogers, a former FBI agent and seven-term congressman who narrowly lost Michigan's 2024 Senate race, ran on tax cuts, domestic manufacturing and more transparent health care prices. His campaign and allied groups argued El-Sayed's views on health care, policing and foreign policy were too extreme for a state Trump carried in 2024.
Critics within his own party also raised concerns. During the primary, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow questioned how his Medicare for All plan would work in practice. He drew criticism for campaigning with Hasan Piker, a streamer known for inflammatory comments about Israel and 9/11, and later distanced his campaign from him.
The campaign also turned personal. Trump called him "dangerously radical" and a "jihadist," and referred to him as "Mohammed." Vice President JD Vance called him "a little weasel." Rogers accused him, without evidence, of ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Sayed and his supporters called the attacks Islamophobic.
The twist: a Democrat endorsed his opponent
Days before the election, Rep. Haley Stevens, who narrowly lost the August primary to El-Sayed, endorsed Rogers. She had previously called Rogers a "rubber stamp" for Trump's agenda. The endorsement angered many Democrats. El-Sayed's campaign said it raised $1.2 million in the four hours after it was announced.
- 2018El-Sayed loses Democratic primary for governor
- July 2026Mallory McMorrow withdraws from Senate primary
- Aug. 4, 2026El-Sayed wins primary with 48.5% over Haley Stevens
- Days before Election DayNYT/Siena poll shows El-Sayed up 11 points
- Nov. 1, 2026Stevens endorses Republican Mike Rogers
- Nov. 4, 2026, ~1:30 a.m.Race called; El-Sayed declares victory in Detroit
The speech everyone shared
El-Sayed declared victory in Detroit at about 1:30 a.m. on November 4. He thanked voters for taking "a chance on the unlikeliest of candidates" and, responding to months of attacks, told the president: "You can just go on and call me Senator." He also joked "Michigan 1, Ohio 0," a reference to Vance, who campaigned heavily against him.
Clips of the speech drew more than 51 million views across two platforms, according to the What's Resonating social-media newsletter. Conservative outlets including The Daily Wire and The Free Press also posted widely viewed criticism of El-Sayed in the days after.
What happens next
El-Sayed arrives in a Democratic-controlled Senate as one of its most progressive members and one of its most outspoken critics of U.S. policy toward Israel. Even with a Democratic majority, his signature Medicare for All proposal faces steep obstacles, Axios noted, and Trump retains his veto. His win is likely to be cited by progressives as evidence that their candidates can win swing states, while moderates will point to the national wave that lifted Democrats almost everywhere.
As of the day after the election, Rogers had not yet conceded, The Detroit News reported.
More in the Midterms 2026 Coverage Series
- Midterms 2026 aftermath: the trends that took over and the biggest stories of the week
- Greenacres Learjet crash: the nine victims and the NTSB investigation
- Cristiano Ronaldo retires from Portugal: the records and the rift
Results are unofficial until certified by the state of Michigan.
Sources: Axios; The Detroit News; The Hill; NPR via Houston Public Media; NPR interview; Bloomberg; TIME; Bridge Michigan; STAT; Fox News; Britannica; NBC New York; What's Resonating.