Abdul El-Sayed Wins Open Michigan U.S. Senate Seat, Defeats Mike Rogers

Democrat Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan’s open U.S. Senate race, defeating Republican Mike Rogers in one of the country’s most closely watched 2026 battleground contests. The Associated Press and other election decision desks called the race for El-Sayed after the Nov. 3 election, and his victory was widely reported as making him the first Muslim American elected to the U.S. Senate.

Reported vote totals compiled by Ballotpedia showed El-Sayed with about 52.5% of the vote, or 2,507,454 votes, to Rogers’ 45.5%, or 2,172,586 votes. Those figures were reported totals tracked after Election Day; Michigan’s official results are finalized through the state’s canvass and certification process, which is separate from media organizations calling a race.

The contest carried national importance because it was for an open seat in a perennial presidential and Senate battleground. Democratic Sen. Gary Peters announced on Jan. 28, 2025, that he would not seek re-election, setting up one of the highest-profile Senate races of 2026. With control of the chamber at stake nationally, Michigan quickly became a central target for both parties.

El-Sayed entered the race as a physician and epidemiologist who previously served as a public health official in Detroit and had run statewide before, including in Michigan’s 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary. He had not previously held federal elective office. His win was widely seen, including in AP reporting, as a progressive breakthrough in a swing state.

Rogers brought deeper federal experience to the race. A former U.S. representative from Michigan, he served in the House from 2001 to 2015 and chaired the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He had also run unsuccessfully for the Senate in 2024.

The campaign unfolded against the backdrop of an unusually expensive and divisive Democratic primary. Roughly $30 million in AIPAC-linked outside spending was reported against El-Sayed during that primary, underscoring the intensity of the intraparty fight before Democrats turned to the general election. In one notable late development, Rep. Haley Stevens, who lost to El-Sayed in the Democratic primary, endorsed Rogers two days before the general election.

In victory remarks reported by the AP, El-Sayed told supporters, “You took a chance on the unlikeliest of candidates.”

Other candidates on the general-election ballot were Douglas P. Marsh of the Green Party, Lydia Christensen of the Libertarian Party, Walter Kristy of the Natural Law Party in Michigan and Timothy Long of the U.S. Taxpayers Party.