El-Sayed Wins Hotly Contested Michigan Senate Race, Retains Seat For Democrats Despite Internal Division

Abdul El-Sayed is projected to win the high-stakes Michigan Senate race just days after fellow Michigan Democrat Haley Stevens, who lost a primary for the party's Senate nomination to El-Sayed, endorsed the senator-elect's opponent Republican Mike Rogers.

"My name is Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, and I am so proud and honored to stand here as your senator-elect for the great state of Michigan," El-Sayed told supporters during his victory speech in Detroit.

The Michigan Senate seat was the only one held by Democrats considered to be truly in contention before the midterms, with all the other Senate races considered toss-ups taking place in Republican-held seats.

However, a string of Democrat victories in Republican-held seats means that Democrat control of the Senate was confirmed before the Michigan result.

The opposition party will now control both Houses of Congress until at least 2028.

El-Sayed had long led in the polls against Rogers, but the Democrat's campaign was rocked by a shock last-minute endorsement of Rogers by Stevens on Sunday.

The spat between Stevens and El-Sayed came about largely because of Stevens and El-Sayed's diverging attitudes towards the U.S.-Israel alliance. El-Sayed had made his opposition to continued U.S. military aid to Israel a key pillar of his campaign. The Democrat accuses the Middle Eastern state of committing "genocide" in Gaza and subjecting Palestinians under its control to an "apartheid" system.

He has also consistently argued for reinvesting money set aside for the Iran war, which began after Washington and Tel Aviv began striking Tehran in February, into domestic services such as healthcare and education.

"We want our taxes spent here, for schools here, and healthcare here, and infrastructure here. We don't want our money sent to do apartheid, or genocide, or war," El-Sayed remarked in his victory speech.

Stevens, by contrast, is a strong supporter of Israel and cited concerns about El-Sayed's refusal to condemn advertisments blaming Israel, in her words, "for everything Michiganders cannot afford."

The ad in question suggests that U.S. grocery prices are high because money is set aside to assist Israel in "killing Palestinians."

El-Sayed's campaign said that the Democratic candidate was not affiliated with the ad, which was not made by his campaign but was made in support of him, and that it did not speak for El-Sayed.

That ad, as well as El-Sayed's previous campaigning with controversial California streamer and prominent Israel critic Hasan Piker, caused concern amongst Jewish voters, Stevens claimed. El-Sayed has repeatedly refuted any allegations of potential antisemitism, arguing that criticism of Israel should not be conflated with criticism of Jewish people.

"My commitment to Jewish safety is the same as my commitment to the safety of my own daughters. Antisemitism is a scourge, and we need to address it in all its forms," El-Sayed's campaign released in a statement in August.

Regardless, issues relating to El-Sayed's attitude towards Israel were cited by Stevens as a factor in driving her to support Rogers, who himself has been accused of prejudice for refusing to condemn President Donald Trump's repeated labelling of El-Sayed, a Muslim, as a "jihadist."

El-Sayed's victory makes him the first Muslim elected to the Senate.