Democrat Abdul El-Sayed has won Michigan’s open US Senate seat, becoming the first Muslim ever elected to the chamber.
The Associated Press called the race for the 42-year-old former public health official, who defeated Republican former congressman Mike Rogers in the midterm elections held on November 3. With about three-quarters of ballots counted, El-Sayed led by nearly six percentage points, according to Bloomberg.
The son of Egyptian immigrants, he had never held elected office and lost the Democratic primary for Michigan governor in 2018. His win kept in Democratic hands the seat vacated by retiring senator Gary Peters.
The party also scored an upset in South Carolina and sweeping gains nationwide, securing control of both chambers of Congress.
El-Sayed’s campaign was dominated by claims about the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist movement founded in Egypt. Washington had designated its Egyptian, Jordanian and Lebanese branches as terrorist organisations.
Trump repeatedly targeted him. “I’m here to keep a jihadist Muslim Brotherhood member from becoming a United States senator,” the President told a rally in Port Huron, Michigan.
Rogers accused his opponent of having “pledged his support” to the movement and pointed to a 2012 letter El-Sayed signed backing Egypt’s newly elected, Brotherhood-backed government. Republicans also highlighted posts by his half-sister about their mother’s past activism in the group.
They further pointed to his father-in-law’s roles at the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), organisations critics accuse of Brotherhood links. El-Sayed denied any ties to the Brotherhood, disavowed it and accused Republicans of attacking his faith.
Bridge Michigan said it had found no evidence that he personally pledged support to the movement. Rogers also accused him of hostility towards Jews, a charge El-Sayed rejected.
The race split Democrats too. Haley Stevens, the congresswoman El-Sayed narrowly beat in the August 4 primary, endorsed Rogers two days before the vote, citing an advertisement that linked US aid to Israel with grocery prices.
In his victory speech in Detroit in the early hours of November 4, El-Sayed addressed his defeated rival directly. “You chose hate and Michigan chose hope,” he said.
He ran on a left-wing platform including Medicare for All, higher taxes on billionaires and curbs on corporate influence in politics. Though he has refused to join the Democratic Socialists of America, he would likely vote alongside senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, according to Reason magazine.
The European Union has not followed Washington in listing the Brotherhood as a terrorist group. Any addition to the EU terror list would require unanimity among the 27 member states.
A French government report published in May 2025 identified Belgium as a key European hub for the movement.
