Who is the 42-year-old Syed who is determined to become the first Muslim U.S. senator?

In this midterm election in the United States, the Democratic Party has gained control of Congress and will control Congress for the remainder of Donald Trump’s presidential term. But the vote may also go down in history for other reasons: In Michigan, Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed will now become the first Muslim U.S. senator.

Said is a doctor and has never held public office in the past. He is at the center of one of the most polarizing campaigns in the country. In the final days of the campaign, the atmosphere heated up further. Previously, his party colleague Haley Stevens, who he narrowly defeated in the Democratic nomination battle, announced her support for Republican candidate Mike Rogers.

Said told reporters in response to the incident on November 1: "There are 10 million people in this state, and they deserve better treatment from the government. I am more concerned about the other 9,999,998 people among them, not the two people you have been talking about."

On November 4, nearly five hours after the polls closed, Saied was declared the winner. He told cheering supporters that "they put everything into a desperate bid to launch one of the ugliest campaigns we've seen in a long time... just because of my name and what I believe in."

"They want an America that's too narrow for some of us. We know it's an America that's big enough for all of us."

He also said: "You chose to believe in such a least favored candidate...Michigan, I can't wait to serve you."

Syed was born in Rochester Hills, a suburb of Detroit, in 1984. His parents divorced when he was three, and he was raised by his father and stepmother, Jacqueline Johnson. He studied medicine at the University of Michigan and Columbia University, specializing in epidemiology.

In 2015, he became the focus of national news when he was appointed executive director of the Detroit Health Department. Three years later, he ran for Michigan governor, finishing second in the Democratic primary but losing to Gretchen Whitmer by more than 20 percentage points. Whitmer was later elected governor twice.

Whitmer endorsed Stevens in the 2026 Senate primary but publicly backed Saied's campaign after he won the nomination.

He has the support of progressives such as Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. But more moderate Democrats, including former President Barack Obama, have also endorsed his campaign, as winning the Michigan race is crucial to the party's plan to seize control of the U.S. Senate.

Saied ran on a left-wing platform in which criticism of U.S. military aid to Israel featured as prominently as issues such as taxing billionaires to pay for universal health care.

On October 29, Saied told supporters at a campaign rally: "It shouldn't be so difficult to pay taxes, and we should be able to be sure that the taxes will be used for ourselves and our children, rather than bombing people and their children elsewhere."

He also called Israel's military operation in Gaza after the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, a genocide, a charge that Israel strongly denies. He also said that Israel is implementing apartheid policies in the occupied West Bank.

Saied’s opposition to military aid is not limited to Tel Aviv. The 42-year-old politician has often said he wants U.S. tax revenue "to be used to build schools and create opportunity, not be sent overseas to drop bombs on anyone."

He said on October 28: "I believe that we should not fund foreign armies in general. This includes Israel, but also Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates."

Still, U.S. President Donald Trump accused the son of Egyptian immigrants of "siding with terrorists."

Vice President J.D. Vance said at Rogers' campaign rally on October 15: "You deserve better than this scumbag. He should shut up and be a little grateful to this country that gave him everything."

Rogers, while distancing himself from Trump's comments, also accused Saied's campaign of accepting money from donors with ties to radical and extremist groups.

Republicans also accuse Said of having ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood is Egypt's oldest and largest Islamist organization and briefly came to power after the 2011 "Arab Spring" uprisings. While he denies any ties to the group, opponents point to the fact that he signed an open letter in 2012 urging Islamist President Mohamed Morsi to "purge the media and police system as quickly as possible."

Said has also been criticized for his relationship with left-wing commentator Hasan Piker. Parker once said that the United States "deserves" the 9/11 attacks. In addition, last August, Syed apologized to the Jewish community in Michigan for his remarks about the motivations of an Arab-American who launched a violent attack on a synagogue in Detroit.

News website Jewish Insider estimates that Syed's candidacy split the vote among Jewish voters in Michigan. This group has historically tended to support Democrats. The news site quoted community leaders as predicting that votes would swing to the Republican candidate.