By Florida Man News Network staff · Wed., Nov. 4, 2026
Democrat Abdul El-Sayed has won Michigan's open U.S. Senate seat, defeating former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, according to race calls by the Associated Press and CBS News. He will be the first Muslim American to serve in the U.S. Senate. (AP via PBS, CBS News)
With about 96% of ballots counted, El-Sayed had 52.5% to Rogers' 45.6%, Bloomberg reported. The win keeps the seat retiring Sen. Gary Peters held in Democratic hands. (Bloomberg)
"You chose hate and Michigan chose hope"
El-Sayed declared victory before a crowd in Detroit early Wednesday. "You took a chance on the unlikeliest of candidates," he told supporters. He said Republicans "went all in on one of the ugliest campaigns that we've seen in our lifetimes," and he had a message for Rogers: "You chose hate and Michigan chose hope." (AP)
His line from the campaign trail summed up his answer to the attacks: "my name and my faith are not why you can't afford your gas." (AP)
As of this writing, we could not confirm whether Rogers has conceded.
Who he is
El-Sayed, 42, is the son of Egyptian immigrants and has never held elected office. He is a public health doctor who ran Detroit's health department and later Wayne County's health, human and veterans services department. He ran for governor in 2018 and lost the Democratic primary to Gretchen Whitmer. (AP, AP via Yahoo)
He ran on universal health care, including Medicare for All, getting outside money out of elections, and sharp criticism of Israel. (AP)
The campaign against him
Trump and other Republicans repeatedly tried to tie El-Sayed to terrorist groups, with no evidence of any such ties, and questioned his loyalty to the country, the AP reported. After the first debate, Trump posted that Rogers had "completely obliterated Mohammed El-Sayed." (AP, JNS)
The day after the primary, Rogers claimed El-Sayed "believes America deserved 9/11." PolitiFact rated that Pants on Fire. The words came from a streamer in 2019, and El-Sayed has said the attacks were not justified. (PolitiFact, FactCheck.org)
The money was enormous. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee spent nearly $30 million opposing him, its largest investment in any single race. The August primary alone drew nearly $60 million in outside spending. (AP)
And two days before the election, Rep. Haley Stevens, the Democrat El-Sayed beat in the primary by about a point, endorsed Rogers. (AP, FMNN: Stevens endorsed the Republican)
Why it matters
The race was one of the most closely watched in the country. It tested how an anti-establishment candidate from the party's left would do in a Midwest battleground. (NPR) He won it by about seven points, on the same night Democrats took control of both chambers of Congress.
For Rogers, it is a second straight Senate loss. He lost to Elissa Slotkin by about 19,000 votes in 2024. (AP via Yahoo)
The Florida connection
Rogers moved to Florida after leaving Congress, and residency questions followed him through both Senate campaigns. (Washington Examiner, Metro Times)
Disclosure: Florida Man News Network endorsed El-Sayed in an editorial: Mike Rogers Ran a Race-Baiting Campaign. Michigan, Bury It.