Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive Democrat and outspoken critic of Israel, won Michigan’s Senate race, according to The Associated Press, maintaining his party’s hold on a crucial battleground seat despite a remarkable last-minute defection from his rival in the primary.
Dr. El-Sayed, 42, will become the nation’s first Muslim senator when he is seated in January. He defeated former Representative Mike Rogers, a Republican making his second run for the Senate, in a campaign that became one of the country’s most bitter and expensive contests.
Dr. El-Sayed overcame opposition not only from Republicans, but also, in the final days, from Representative Haley Stevens, the moderate Democrat he beat in the primary. On Sunday, after days of growing criticism of Dr. El-Sayed, she rescinded her support of the Democrat and made a stunning endorsement of Mr. Rogers.
Her late opposition was emblematic of a faction of moderate Democrats and Jewish voters who found Dr. El-Sayed’s position on Israel untenable. In the end, though, Ms. Stevens proved to have a limited constituency. Her endorsement of Mr. Rogers drew broad condemnation across the Democratic Party.
Dr. El-Sayed’s triumph gives Democrats a critical victory and keeps them in control of the seat held by Senator Gary Peters, who is retiring.
A talented orator and debater, Dr. El-Sayed ran on a platform of “money out of politics, money in your pocket, Medicare for all.” He focused relentlessly on tying Mr. Rogers to President Trump and his policies, especially the war in Iran and tariffs, which have driven up prices. He also reveled in schoolyard taunts, calling Mr. Rogers “a beta” during a Fox News appearance.
But throughout his campaign, questions lingered over whether he could win over crucial segments of Democrats’ traditional base. Black voters, especially in Detroit, have long had tensions with Arab Americans in the region.
And suburban Jewish voters who have been loyal Democrats for generations blanched at his suggestions that Israel should not exist as an explicitly Jewish state — a position he had softened by the end of his campaign — and that the United States should cut off military aid to the country.
In the campaign’s final weeks, Dr. El-Sayed faced a blitz of Republican attacks centered on his faith and family. At televised debates, Mr. Rogers questioned Dr. El-Sayed’s loyalty to America, invoked his mother and suggested he was in league with the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist political movement. (Dr. El-Sayed has disavowed the movement.)
Mr. Trump called Dr. El-Sayed a “jihadist” at a rally last month in Port Huron, Mich., and in Truth Social posts.
Throughout the campaign, Dr. El-Sayed emerged as a litmus test for Democrats. Progressives argued that his muscular left-wing politics were the party’s future and sought to cast his campaign as an example for others to follow. But centrist and moderate Democrats who backed Ms. Stevens in the primary saw his approach as an unnecessary risk in a battleground state.
Late in the race, a low-grade feud between Ms. Stevens and Dr. El-Sayed exploded into public view. Ms. Stevens had spent the campaign’s final weeks offering increasingly pointed criticism about Dr. El-Sayed’s position on Israel and demanding that he condemn an online ad made by an outside group that supported him. Dr. El-Sayed publicly uninvited Ms. Stevens from a planned joint appearance at a Detroit church; Ms. Stevens responded by pulling her endorsement and backing Mr. Rogers.
Dr. El-Sayed has telegraphed high ambitions in the Senate.
He has said he aims to influence Democratic policy on health care and Israel, both in Washington and during the 2028 presidential contest. Michigan is set to play a newly influential role in the party’s primary race, with the Democratic National Committee placing the state fifth on its revamped calendar.
Leading liberal figures flooded into the state to campaign for Dr. El-Sayed. Former President Barack Obama held a rally in Detroit for him, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York accompanied him for a day of campaign stops. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont held rallies to try to juice turnout for him.
The Senate race was the most expensive in state history, with $278 million spent on television and digital advertising, according to AdImpact, a media tracking firm. Dr. El-Sayed was outspent in both the Democratic primary, when pro-Israel super PACs supported Ms. Stevens, and during the general election against Mr. Rogers.
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