Abdul El-Sayed has declared victory in the Michigan Senate race, claiming a win against Mike Rogers in a vicious race that was rocked by an eleventh-hour betrayal by his formal primary rival.
The race remained too close to call, with El-Sayed holding a 6 point lead with 78 percent of the vote counted.
'Michigan, we did it,' El-Sayed exclaimed before a crowd after 1:30 am eastern.
The 41-year-old progressive, who has a medical degree but is not a practicing physician, had never held elected office and would become the first Muslim elected to the US Senate.
His declaration followed a dramatic final stretch in which former Democratic primary rival Haley Stevens stunned the party by endorsing Rogers on the eve of the election.
Stevens doubled down with a barrage of attacks on El-Sayed, igniting a furious Democratic feud. But her defection also galvanized his supporters, with party heavyweights and major donors rallying behind the nominee.
El-Sayed's campaign raised $2.4 million on Sunday — its largest single-day haul — as Stevens appeared alongside Rogers at a church event to cement her cross-party endorsement.
A victory would preserve a decades-long Democratic hold on the seat. Republicans have not won a Michigan Senate race since 1994, have not won this particular seat since 1972 and have not won a non-presidential statewide election in the state since 2014.
Abdul El-Sayed has won the Michigan Senate race, surviving a late defection by a former rival that rattled the nerves of Democrats
El-Sayed has survived the ultimate midterm betrayal after former Democratic primary rival Haley Stevens stunned the party by endorsing his Republican opponent
Read More
Which midterm races should YOU be watching? Enter your zip code in our exclusive election calculator
El-Sayed, who was supported at a rally by former President Barack Obama, focused his campaign on the cost-of-living and Iran war, telling voters that 'Donald Trump's war in Iran is on the ballot.'
'Your gas prices are on the ballot,' he hammered.
Gas is currently at about $4.83 a gallon in Michigan, according to AAA.
On the Republican side, President Donald Trump personally traveled to Michigan to give Rogers a major boost, headlining a rally with him and making vicious, and 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 attendees gathered in Port Huron.
Trump said El-Sayed 'would be screened and unable to get a seat on an airplane. They certainly should not give him a seat in the United States Senate.'
Trump also attacked Jewish voters backing El-Sayed, saying 'Any Jewish person that supports this guy should be ashamed of themselves'.
El-Sayed was largely disciplined in responding by returning the conversation around costs.
In Grand Rapids he said the Republican strategy was '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 surrogates actively questioned El–Sayed's loyalties, alleging connections to groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, claims El–Sayed strongly rejected as Islamophobic attacks designed to distract from policy issues.
Heading into Election Day, public polling aggregators pointed to an exceptionally tight race, showing El–Sayed holding a narrow lead with a few percentage points over Rogers.
Source link
