Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders at a campaign event for Abdul El-sayed in Michigan. AP
The 41-year-old epidemiologist overcame a nearly $65 million onslaught of outside money, including the largest investment in a race ever from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which had rallied around Stevens.
El-Sayed, a former Wayne County health director, campaigned on “Medicare for All,” campaign finance reform, defending voting rights, and abolishing ICE over its targeting of immigrant communities.
He condemned the US/Israeli war on Iran and called for ending Washington's military aid to Israel over its genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza.
Groups backing Stevens spent more than $50 million, led by more than $30 million from AIPAC and its affiliates.
While El-Sayed called for ending military aid to Israel, Stevens maintained strong support for the relationship.
Israel has become a contentious issue within the Democratic Party amid its genocidal war on Gaza that killed more than 73,000 Palestinians and plummeted support among wider layers of the Democratic Party and the general population.
El-Sayed has argued that Democrats need to reject corporate influence and embrace a more progressive agenda. In campaign speeches, he repeatedly called for "money to feed children at home, not for wars that kill children abroad."
Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, born 31 October 1984 to Egyptian immigrant parents, is an American politician and epidemiologist. He was the director of the Department of Health, Human, and Veterans Services of Wayne County, Michigan, from 2023 to 2025. A progressive Democrat, he was a candidate for governor of Michigan in the 2018 election.
El-Sayed was supported by Democratic Socialist Melat Kiros, who recently beat a longtime incumbent in a Democratic primary for a Denver-based House seat on an anti-war and anti-military-support-to-Israel platform. He was also backed by Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders, an outspoken critic of the US military support to Israel and the US/Israeli war on Iran.
El-Sayed goes on to face former Rep. Mike Rogers, who claimed the Republican nomination without opposition Tuesday.
If El-Sayed wins, he would become the first Muslim US senator in American history.
Whoever wins will succeed Sen. Gary Peters, a Democrat who decided against seeking a third term and endorsed Stevens in the primary.
Republicans hold 53 seats in the chamber, and Democrats are targeting some red states to flip the 4 seats they’d need to swing the majority. But Democrats also have to defend seats in several battleground states, including Georgia and Michigan.
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