Abdul El-Sayed beats Mike Rogers in Michigan, becoming the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate

Democrat Abdul El-Sayed defeated Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers in Michigan's open Senate race on Tuesday, Nov. 3, according to the Associated Press, as reported by TIME.

El-Sayed is the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate, TIME reported. The seat opened when Democratic Sen. Gary Peters retired. President Trump carried Michigan by two points in 2024.

Who is Abdul El-Sayed

According to TIME:

• He is 42, the son of Egyptian immigrants, and grew up in suburban Detroit.
• He studied at the University of Michigan, was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford and earned a medical degree from Columbia.
• He taught epidemiology at Columbia and later led public health departments in Detroit and Wayne County.
• He ran for governor of Michigan in 2018 and lost.

How he got here

El-Sayed narrowly beat Rep. Haley Stevens in the August primary. Two days before the general election, Stevens endorsed Rogers and appeared with him at a Detroit church, TIME reported.

His win helps give Democrats their new Senate majority. Al Jazeera reported that Democrats had won 53 seats and led in three more early on Wednesday, Nov. 4.