Democrat Abdul El-Sayed took the stage before supporters in Detroit in the early hours of Wednesday, November 4, 2026, to declare victory in Michigan's U.S. Senate race, telling the crowd he was proud and honoured to stand before them as senator-elect.
"Michigan, we did it!" he said, opening a speech in which he thanked supporters for taking a chance on what he called the unlikeliest of candidates, said "this is all yours," and returned to the phrase that ran through his campaign, telling the crowd that the "Inshallah" — God willing — of the campaign could now become "Alhamdulillah," praise be to God. He also told supporters that while his opponents wanted an America too small for some people, "we know that America is big enough for all of us."
The Associated Press called the race for El-Sayed, with its results page showing him on 2,270,057 votes to 2,020,609 for Republican former Representative Mike Rogers, with 81.47 percent of precincts reporting. Decision Desk HQ and the Fox News Decision Desk had also projected El-Sayed as the winner earlier in the night, shortly before his speech.
El-Sayed, 42, a physician and epidemiologist who served as health director in Detroit and Wayne County, will become the first Muslim elected to the United States Senate. He succeeds retiring Democratic Senator Gary Peters and is due to take office in January 2027, keeping the seat in Democratic hands.
The race for Peters's open seat was one of the most closely watched contests of the November 3 midterm elections. El-Sayed campaigned on expanding Medicare coverage, bringing down the cost of living and curbing the influence of corporate money in politics, and built his campaign around young and infrequent voters.
He won the Democratic primary in August by about one percentage point over Representative Haley Stevens, despite Stevens having the backing of Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Peters. In the final days of the general election, Stevens stunned fellow Democrats by endorsing Rogers instead — a move that drew fury from Democrats and, according to campaign reporting, helped El-Sayed raise more than $1 million within hours.
Rogers, a former congressman backed by President Donald Trump, had narrowly lost Michigan's 2024 Senate race. Throughout the campaign he and his allies attacked El-Sayed over his faith and alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood — allegations El-Sayed denied, including on NBC's Meet the Press, where he answered "No" when asked directly whether he or his family had any ties to the group. A September Bridge Michigan fact check found no evidence that El-Sayed himself held membership in or pledged support to the group.
— Update: Thursday, November 12, 2026 —
El-Sayed plans to take his Senate oath on the Quran when he is sworn in, he has said — a first for a Muslim senator in U.S. history. The plan has drawn fresh questions about his past comments on Iran and his reported associations, the same lines of attack he faced during the campaign and denied.
First posted on Instagram
— Wednesday, November 4, 2026 —
In the same Detroit victory speech, El-Sayed taunted Vice President JD Vance, noting that Vance, as president of the Senate, will be constitutionally required to swear him in as a senator in January. "JD, habibi, there is this delicious irony in the fact that you're constitutionally obligated to swear me in in January," he said. He added "Wolverine one, Buckeye zero" — a reference to his Michigan team against Vance's Ohio State — and, addressing President Donald Trump, said: "After JD swears me in in January, you can just call me Senator."
Supporters outside his victory party in the early hours of Wednesday chanted "Free, free Palestine!", turning the celebration into a pro-Palestinian demonstration.