Democrat Abdul El-Sayed has won Michigan’s U.S. Senate race and will become the first Muslim elected to the chamber, according to NBC News, CBS News, NPR and the Associated Press.
What happened
Networks projected early Wednesday that El-Sayed, a 42-year-old epidemiologist and former Michigan public health official, defeated Republican Mike Rogers, a former U.S. representative, Army veteran and ex-FBI agent. He will succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters. A Republican has not won a Michigan Senate seat since 1994, according to NBC News.
As results came in, El-Sayed led by roughly six percentage points — about 52% to Rogers’s about 46% — according to FOX 2 Detroit and network tallies cited by NBC and CBS.
Why the race drew national attention
The contest was one of the most closely watched Senate races of the 2026 midterms. El-Sayed ran as a progressive, stressing lower living costs, less corporate money in politics and Medicare for All — a plan for government-run health insurance for everyone. Rogers framed himself as a common-sense alternative and criticized El-Sayed’s views on Israel and national security.
- President Donald Trump and other Republicans attacked El-Sayed’s faith during the campaign; Trump at one point called him a “jihadist,” according to NBC News and CBS News.
- El-Sayed has denied any link to the Muslim Brotherhood and told Fox News he has never been a member.
- Days before the election, Rep. Haley Stevens, who lost the Democratic primary to El-Sayed, endorsed Rogers after a public rift over Israel-related ads and campaign events, according to CBS News and NPR.
What each side said
In a victory post on X early Wednesday, El-Sayed wrote: “It is my honor and privilege to be headed to the US Senate to serve the great state of Michigan. Michigan, we did what they said couldn’t be done. We won. Together. Now the real work begins.”
Speaking to supporters, he also addressed critics of his religion, saying, “I love America,” according to NBC News. He told Rogers, “you chose hate, and Michigan chose hope,” and noted that Vice President JD Vance would swear him in — lines reported by NBC News from his victory remarks.
Rogers spent the campaign arguing El-Sayed was too extreme for Michigan and tried late in the race to put some distance between himself and Trump’s Iran war and broad tariffs, which Rogers said had gone too far in an interview with NBC News. As of early Wednesday morning, major free outlets had not reported a formal concession statement from Rogers.
What it means
El-Sayed’s win holds a Democratic Senate seat in a state Trump carried in 2024 and adds another historic first to a midterm night already full of them. Supporters cast it as a rebuke of attacks on his faith and a win for affordability politics. Critics had warned his foreign-policy views and progressive platform would divide voters. Both arguments will follow him to Washington when the new Congress convenes in January.
Sources: NBC News, CBS News, NPR, FOX 2 Detroit, Abdul El-Sayed on X
