Abdul El-Sayed of Democratic party becomes first Muslim elected to US Senate

Abdul El-Sayed of the Democratic party won Michigan’s open US Senate seat on Tuesday, according to media projections, becoming the first Muslim elected to the chamber.

Republicans held a 53-47 Senate majority going into Tuesday’s midterm elections, with Democrats needing a net gain of four seats to take control.

El-Sayed’s victory in the closely contested election marked a breakthrough for the Democratic Party’s progressive wing and denied Republicans a chance to flip the seat of retiring Democratic Senator Gary Peters.

El-Sayed, 42, a former public health official, focused on lowering costs for working families and reducing corporate influence in politics. His platform included Medicare for All, a government-funded universal healthcare program championed by progressives in his party.

His opponent Mike Rogers, 63, a former congressman and FBI agent, entered the race with strong backing from Trump and national Republicans and had sought to cast El-Sayed as a radical candidate sympathetic to Islamic extremism through alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, claims that El-Sayed denies and that remain unsupported by evidence. 

Democrats cast the attacks on El-Sayed relied on Islamophobic tropes.

Rogers also devoted significant effort to courting Jewish voters who may have been uneasy with El-Sayed’s opposition to US military aid for Israel and his characterization of Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide.