Abdul El-Sayed declared victory in Michigan’s Senate race, saying he had defeated Mike Rogers after a bitter campaign marked by a last-minute betrayal from his former primary opponent.
Fox News called the contest for El-Sayed shortly before 2 a.m. Wednesday, although several other networks had yet to declare a winner.
With 78 percent of the vote counted, El-Sayed held a six-point advantage.
“Michigan, we did it,” El-Sayed told supporters gathered after 1:30 a.m. Eastern time.
“To President Trump, I know you struggle with my name. So after JD swears me in, you can just call me senator,” he said, referring to the vice president.
The 41-year-old progressive, who holds a medical degree but does not practice medicine, had never served in elected office. If confirmed as the winner, he would become the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate.
His victory declaration came after a dramatic final stretch in which Haley Stevens, his former Democratic primary rival, stunned party leaders by endorsing Rogers on the eve of Election Day.
Stevens followed the endorsement with a series of attacks on El-Sayed, triggering an angry Democratic dispute. Her break with the party, however, also energized El-Sayed’s base, prompting prominent Democrats and major donors to rally around the nominee.
El-Sayed’s campaign brought in $2.4 million on Sunday, its largest one-day total, as Stevens appeared with Rogers at a church event to formalize her cross-party endorsement.
A win would extend Democrats’ decades-long hold on the seat. Republicans have not captured a Michigan Senate race since 1994, have not won this specific seat since 1972 and have not prevailed in a non-presidential statewide election in Michigan since 2014.
Abdul El-Sayed has won the Michigan Senate race, overcoming a late defection by a former rival that unsettled Democrats
El-Sayed has survived a dramatic midterm betrayal after former Democratic primary rival Haley Stevens endorsed his Republican challenger
El-Sayed, who received support at a rally from former President Barack Obama, centered his campaign on rising living costs and the war in Iran. He told voters that “Donald Trump’s war in Iran is on the ballot.”
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“Your gas prices are on the ballot,” he repeatedly warned.
Gas prices in Michigan stood at about $4.83 per gallon, according to AAA.
Trump, meanwhile, traveled to Michigan to bolster Rogers, headlining a rally with the Republican candidate and unleashing a series of personal attacks against El-Sayed and his supporters.
“If Abdul and the Democrats win, they will open the floodgates and invite hordes of jihadis to our shores, creating a nightmare of violence and terror until you cannot even have a Christmas,” Trump told thousands of people at a gathering in Port Huron.
Trump also claimed El-Sayed “would be screened and unable to get a seat on an airplane” and said he “certainly” should not be given a seat in the U.S. Senate.
He further criticized Jewish voters who supported El-Sayed, saying, “Any Jewish person that supports this guy should be ashamed of themselves.”
El-Sayed largely avoided escalating the attacks, instead steering his response back toward household expenses.
At an appearance in Grand Rapids, he said Republicans were trying “to point at me and my name and my faith. But my name and my faith are not the reason you can’t afford your gas.”
El–Sayed and former Vice President Kamala Harris participate in a roundtable discussion on reproductive health at Birth Detroit in Detroit, Michigan
Rogers shakes hands with Trump during a rally ahead of the midterm elections at an entertainment complex in Port Huron, Michigan
Rogers and conservative allies also questioned El–Sayed’s loyalties, alleging ties to organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood. El–Sayed rejected the accusations, calling them Islamophobic attacks intended to divert attention from policy debates.
As voters headed to the polls, public polling averages showed an unusually close contest, with El–Sayed holding a narrow lead of several percentage points over Rogers.
