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El-Sayed reminds Vance he must swear him in as senator
Democrat Abdul El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan’s Senate election and will become the first Muslim in the history of the upper chamber of the U.S. Congress. In his victory speech, he teased Vice President Vance, responded to Trump’s mockery of his name and thanked his wife.
RuskiGazeta Editorial DeskUpdated:
Democrat Abdul El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan’s election for the U.S. Senate, becoming the first Muslim in the history of the upper chamber of Congress, Decision Desk HQ reported. According to NBC News, after around 80% of the expected vote had been counted, El-Sayed was receiving 51.7% of the vote to his opponent’s 46.3%. He will take the seat of retiring Democratic Senator Gary Peters.
In his victory speech, the son of Egyptian immigrants addressed Vice President J.D. Vance, who, as president of the Senate, swears in new senators: “J.D., habibi, there’s a wonderful irony in the fact that, under the Constitution, you are required to swear me in in January.” The Arabic word “habibi” means “dear” or “friend.”
“You can just call me senator”
He also addressed Donald Trump, who had called him “Mohamed El-Sayed” during the campaign and said at a rally supporting Rogers that El-Sayed “would have to pass through a metal detector before they let him into the Senate.” “Donald, listen, I know my name was difficult for you. So after J.D. swears me in in January, you can just call me senator,” El-Sayed said.
Addressing parents who could not explain to their children why the president mocked other people’s names and faith, the politician said: “Tomorrow, tell your children that the bad guys lost.”
El-Sayed said that whenever he spoke about the election’s outcome, he added “inshallah” (“if God wills it”): “But today we can turn that ‘inshallah’ into ‘alhamdulillah’” (“praise be to God”).
From doctor to senator
El-Sayed was born in Michigan in 1984 to a family of Egyptian immigrants. He studied biology and political science at the University of Michigan, earned a doctorate in public health at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and later received a medical degree from Columbia University. In 2015, he headed Detroit’s health department; in 2018, he ran in the Michigan gubernatorial primary; and from 2023 to 2025, he led the Wayne County health department.
At the end of his speech, he separately thanked his wife: “Thank you for everything. I couldn’t have done this without you, and there’s no one else I would have wanted to go through this with.”
Campaign spending in Michigan exceeded $270 million. El-Sayed advocated ending U.S. support for Israel amid the wars in Gaza and Iran, while two days before the election, his primary opponent, Congresswoman Haley Stevens, endorsed Rogers. Israel’s Channel 14 described the election result as a victory for an “enemy of Israel and supporter of Palestine.”
Video: social media. Photo: Wikimedia Commons (archive)
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