Former public health official Abdul El-Sayed has made history after media projections declared him the winner of Michigan’s US Senate race on Tuesday, making him the first Muslim elected to the chamber and delivering a significant victory to Democrats in their bid to control Congress.
El-Sayed defeated Mike Rogers, 63, a former congressman and FBI agent who enjoyed the backing of President Donald Trump and prominent Republican figures.
During the campaign, Rogers attempted to portray his opponent as an extremist, alleging that he had links to the Muslim Brotherhood. El-Sayed, however, dismissed the allegations.
The 42-year-old focused his campaign on tackling the rising cost of living for working families and reducing the influence of corporations in politics.
“They want an America that is too small for some of us. We know that America is big enough for all of us,” El-Sayed said.
Before the general election, El-Sayed defeated Haley Stevens to secure the Democratic Party’s nomination.
The two candidates contested the Senate seat held by outgoing Democratic Senator Gary Peters, who has represented Michigan in the chamber since 2015.
Rogers had previously lost the 2024 Senate election to Elissa Slotkin by a narrow margin of 0.3 percentage points.
He initially supported Trump’s tariff policy and military campaign against Iran but distanced himself from the president during the final weeks of the election campaign. He called for an end to the trade dispute between the US and Canada and urged a swift resolution to the Iran conflict.
Meanwhile, Democrats secured control of both chambers of the US Congress following a sweeping victory in the midterm elections, marked by several major upsets.
The outcome gives Democrats control of the House of Representatives and the Senate, providing them with the power to obstruct Trump’s legislative agenda and investigate alleged corruption during the final two years of his presidency.