Abdul El-Sayed has narrowly won the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat in Michigan, according to a race call by The Associated Press. His victory marks a win for the progressive wing of the Democratic Party after defeating Rep. Haley Stevens, who was backed by the party’s centrists.
The race remained too close to call overnight, with vote counting continuing into the morning before El-Sayed was declared the winner. He will now face former Rep. Mike Rogers in the November election for the Senate seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Gary Peters. The contest is considered crucial for Democrats as they try to regain control of the Senate from Republicans.
Speaking to NPR’s Morning Edition before the race was officially called, El-Sayed said Democrats must defeat President Donald Trump’s preferred candidate to overcome Trumpism.
El-Sayed is an epidemiologist who previously served as Detroit’s health director and later held the same position for the surrounding county. He also ran for governor of Michigan in 2018 but lost the Democratic primary to now-Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
His campaign focused on policies such as Medicare for All and reducing the influence of corporate money in politics. He also criticized the money spent against his campaign by a group aligned with the pro-Israel lobbying organization AIPAC.
El-Sayed received support from several prominent progressive leaders, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who both traveled to Michigan to campaign with him.
Although El-Sayed does not identify as a socialist and describes himself as a capitalist, he shares several policy positions with progressive groups. He is not endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, but he supports policies such as abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
His primary opponent, Stevens, is a four-term member of Congress who flipped a suburban House seat in 2018. She previously served on President Barack Obama’s team that helped rescue the U.S. auto industry during the 2008-09 financial crisis. During her campaign, Stevens pledged to challenge Trump’s tariffs and address rising costs linked to the war with Iran while emphasizing her support for Michigan’s manufacturing sector.
