Abdul El-Sayed becomes first Muslim elected to the US Senate

Dr Abdul El-Sayed has been elected the first Muslim member of the US Senate, defeating former Republican representative Mike Rogers in Michigan's Senate race, it was announced on 4 November. With about 97 per cent of votes counted, he led by roughly seven points (52.5 per cent to 45.5 per cent). He takes the seat of retiring Democratic senator Gary Peters and will be sworn in on 3 January 2027.

Born on 31 October 1984 in Rochester Hills, Michigan, the 42-year-old grew up the son of an Egyptian immigrant father and an American aunt. He graduated with honours from the University of Michigan (2007), earned a doctorate in public health at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar (2011) and took a medical degree at Columbia University in 2014.

Before his election he worked as an epidemiologist: assistant professor at Columbia University, then director of Detroit's health department from 2015 to 2017, rebuilding it after the city's bankruptcy. He finished second in the Democratic primary for Michigan governor in 2018, and from 2022 to 2025 led Wayne County's department of health, human and veterans' services. His candidate profile highlights programmes such as free glasses for children, lead removal in Detroit schools, making the overdose-reversal drug naloxone available to all, and medical debt relief.

His pledges include Medicare for All, cutting family costs and reducing the influence of cooperative institutions in politics. He is the author of Healing Politics, co-author of Medicare for All: A Citizen's Guide, and host of the America Dissected podcast.

Note: although he holds a medical degree, he did not complete a residency and has never held a licence to practise medicine, a US fact-checking organisation said on 14 October 2026. His career has centred on epidemiology, public health and policy.