Democratic Party's Abdul Al-Sayed has gained the lead over Republican candidate Mike Rogers.
This lead in one of the most expensive and polarizing contests of the 2026 midterm elections could provide a major boost to progressive leaders across the country.
Al-Sayed, a doctor by profession, will become America's first Muslim senator. By the time about 85 percent of the votes were counted, he had received 51.8 percent of the votes, while Rogers got 46.2 percent support.
With his victory, Michigan's US Senate seat will remain with the Democratic Party. With this, the party's lead in the Senate has become stronger.
Dr. Al-Sayed has never held any political position. The situation became even more tense in the final days of the campaign, when his Democrat colleague Haley Stevens, whom he narrowly defeated for the party nomination, announced her support for Republican nominee Mike Rogers.
Al-Sayed told reporters on Sunday, November 1, "This is a state of 10 million people who deserve much better treatment from their government. I am more focused on the 9,999,998 people you are not talking about."
Born in 1984 in suburban Rochester Hills, Detroit, Al-Sayed's parents divorced when he was three years old, and he was raised by his father and stepmother Jacqueline Johnson.
He studied medicine at the University of Michigan and Columbia University and specialized in epidemiology.
His appointment as executive director of the Detroit Health Department in 2015 made national headlines.
Three years later, El-Sayed ran for governor of Michigan. He finished second in the Democratic primary, but lost to Gretchen Whitmer by more than 20 percent of the vote. Later, Gretchen held the post of governor twice.
Whitmer had endorsed Stevens in the 2026 Senate primaries, but has publicly supported El-Sayed's campaign since winning the nomination.
He has the support of progressive leaders like Senator Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Many liberal Democrat leaders, including former US President Barack Obama, also supported his campaign. Victory in Michigan is crucial to the party's plans to regain control of the US Senate.
Al-Sayed campaigned on a leftist platform, which included criticism of US military aid to Israel as well as raising money for public health care by taxing billionaires.
"It shouldn't be so difficult to pay taxes and know that that money will be spent on you and your children, not to bomb someone else and their children," al-Sayed told supporters at an election rally on Thursday, 29 October.
He has also called Israel's campaign in Gaza following the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023, as genocide. An allegation which Israel strongly rejects. Syed had said that Israel is practicing apartheid in the occupied West Bank.
Al-Sayed, 42, often says he wants to use US taxes to "build schools and opportunities instead of sending people overseas to bomb people."
"I don't think we should finance foreign militaries in general. This includes Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates," al-Sayed said on Wednesday, October 28.
Despite this, US President Donald Trump accused El-Sayed, the son of Egyptian immigrants, of "supporting terrorists."
Vice President J.D. Vance said at a campaign rally for Rogers on October 15, "You deserve better than a little snob who should keep his mouth shut and show a little gratitude to the country that has given him everything."
The Republican Party has also accused El-Sayed of having ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest and oldest Islamic organization, which briefly took power in the African country after the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.
Although Abdul denies any connection, his rivals have cited his signature on a 2012 open letter in which he urged Islamist President Mohammed Morsi to "clarify his position to the media and police as soon as possible".
Al-Sayed has also faced criticism for his ties to left-wing commentator Hassan Pekar, who said the US deserved the 9/11 attacks.
Last August, El-Sayed apologized to Michigan's Jewish community for his comments on the violent attack of an Arab American at a synagogue in Detroit.
According to Jewish Insider estimates, his candidacy has split the Jewish vote in Michigan, which has historically favored the Democrats.
Citing community leaders, the news website predicted a growing trend in favor of the Republican candidate.
However, during the election campaign, El-Sayed declared that his allegiance was to the US Constitution and asked voters to judge him on his policies rather than his background.
He said, "My name and my religion are not the reason people can't buy petrol or groceries, see a doctor or be concerned about the air they breathe and the water they drink."
