Abdul El-Sayed: who is the first Muslim elected to the US Senate?

Updated 4 Nov 2026, 10:01 · First published 4 Nov 2026

Democrat Abdul El-Sayed has won the US Senate race in Michigan, making him the first Muslim ever elected to the United States Senate. The 42-year-old, a former public health official and Oxford Rhodes Scholar, beat Republican Mike Rogers in one of the most bitter races of the midterms.

Who is Abdul El-Sayed?

El-Sayed was born to Egyptian immigrant parents and grew up in the Detroit suburbs. He studied at the University of Michigan, won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford, and earned a medical degree at Columbia University in New York, where he went on to teach epidemiology.

He then led public health in Detroit and later in Wayne County, which includes the city. In 2018 he ran to become governor of Michigan but lost in the Democratic primary.

What does he stand for?

A progressive backed by Senator Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, he campaigned for Medicare for All, a single government-run health system. He narrowly won the Democratic primary in August, by about one point over Haley Stevens.

He has strongly criticised Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, while insisting that this is not hostility towards Jewish people. Rogers accused him of fostering antisemitism, a claim El-Sayed condemned. It was one of the most bitter campaigns of the election.

What did he say after winning?

Declaring victory at his election night party in Detroit in the early hours of Wednesday, he told his opponent: “Mike, enjoy your retirement.” He added: “You chose hate. Michigan chose hope.”

His clash with a Sky News reporter

On election day, El-Sayed had a heated exchange outside a voting centre in Detroit with Sky News US correspondent James Matthews. After asking whether Matthews was registered to vote in Michigan, he said: “I do not care what you think or the questions you ask,” and told the reporter to stop chasing him. Matthews replied that the election “matters to the world”.

Why does his win matter?

Michigan is a battleground state that Donald Trump won by two points in 2024, and the seat was one Republicans hoped to take. Keeping it helped Democrats win control of the Senate. El-Sayed’s election is also a milestone for America’s Muslim community: Michigan, home to Dearborn, has one of the largest Arab-American and Muslim populations in the US.

Sources: Associated Press race call, Time, Newsweek, Yahoo News, Sky News. Embedded post from @AbdulElSayed on X and video from Sky News on YouTube. Main photo: Abdul El-Sayed at his election night party in Detroit, Jeff Kowalsky / AFP / East News.