Midterms 2026 · Report · File No. 261104-706
El-Sayed wins Michigan Senate seat, becoming first Muslim U.S. senator
Democrat Abdul El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers in a race marked by Trump's attacks on his faith, giving Democrats a Senate seat they have held since 1979.
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Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, a doctor and former Wayne County health director, has won Michigan's U.S. Senate race, defeating Republican Mike Rogers 12. His victory makes him the first Muslim U.S. senator 12.
El-Sayed declared victory early Wednesday at the Michigan Democrats' headquarters in Detroit 1. The win keeps a Senate seat Democrats have held since 1979 2 and adds to the party's new Senate majority 1.
The campaign was bitter and expensive. The Detroit News put total spending in the contest above $400 million 2. El-Sayed raised $30.7 million from mid-July through September, more than three times Rogers' $9.7 million, while outside groups spent nearly $95 million boosting Rogers by mid-October, compared with $42 million for El-Sayed 2.
Trump and Republican allies led what the Guardian described as a largely Islamophobic campaign against El-Sayed, with the president calling him a "jihadist" and a "communist" 1. Rogers ran as a close ally of Trump, backing his tariff policy and the war with Iran before breaking with him on both in the closing weeks 1.
From Channel GOPEl-Sayed lays out his case against Mike RogersAbdul El-Sayed · 138 plays · captioned, with the source named
The race took a late turn when Michigan Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens withdrew her support for El-Sayed and endorsed Rogers two days before the election 2. El-Sayed's campaign reported raising $2.4 million that day, its largest one-day total of the race 2.
In his victory speech, El-Sayed credited a movement built over a year and a half of campaigning across Michigan's biggest cities and smallest towns 1.
You welcomed me in your homes, your churches, your synagogues
He also took aim at the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC, whose super PAC United Democracy Project spent more than $30 million in the primary trying to stop him 12.
To AIPAC who spent $42 million against us. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to beat you twice
Rogers, a former congressman, previously lost the 2024 Senate race to Elissa Slotkin by roughly 0.3 percentage points 1. El-Sayed upset Stevens in the August 4 primary by about 1 point 2.
The pattern is a test of whether a progressive insurgent can win a swing state 1. El-Sayed ran on Medicare for All, the proposal for universal government health coverage, and called for an end to U.S. military aid for Israel 1. He had the backing of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 2.
That matters because Michigan was the only Democratic-held seat among the seven races the Cook Political Report rated as toss-ups near the end of the campaign 2. Holding it denied Republicans their clearest chance to offset losses elsewhere 2.
El-Sayed entered Election Day ahead in the RealClearPolitics average, 49.8 percent to 44.9 percent 2. A New York Times/Siena University poll of 1,011 likely voters conducted October 23-November 1 gave him his largest lead, 53 percent to 42 percent, with a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points 2.
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Sources
- The Guardian, “Progressive Abdul El-Sayed wins Michigan Senate race to become first Muslim US senator” (2026-11-04). theguardian.com/us-news/2026/nov/03/abdul-el-sayed-mike-roge
- Newsweek, “Abdul El-Sayed Beats Mike Rogers, Becoming First Muslim Senator, Fox News Projects” (2026-11-04). newsweek.com/michigan-senate-midterms-mike-el-sayed-mike-rog
- NPR, “Adam Hamilton becomes the first Democratic senator from Kansas in nearly a century” (2026-11-04). npr.org/2026/11/03/g-s1-151587/kansas-senate-race-hamilton-m
Found an error? Tell the newsroom. Corrections are noted at the top of the story.
More from the files
Stevens defends Rogers endorsement, calls fiancé claims 'sexism dressed up as political analysis'
Rep. Haley Stevens is pushing back on critics who say her fiancé influenced her shock endorsement of Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan's Senate race, keeping a Democratic civil war in the spotlight on Election Day.
Stevens called Rogers a Trump 'rubber stamp' in August. On Sunday she endorsed him
Rep. Haley Stevens, a Michigan Democrat, once wrote that Republican Mike Rogers lost 'fair and square' and would be a Trump 'rubber stamp.' Two days before Michigan's close Senate vote, she endorsed him. Her own posts show how far she moved.
El-Sayed raises $1.2 million in four hours after Stevens endorses Rogers
Rep. Haley Stevens's endorsement of Republican Mike Rogers in the Michigan Senate race triggered a fundraising surge for Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, a sign the party's internal fight is energizing its base a day before the midterm election.
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