‘Rejecting hate’: Abdul El-Sayed wins Senate seat despite racist attacks

The progressive Democrat defeats Republican Mike Rogers to win Michigan seat to become first Muslim senator-elect in US history.

Democratic US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and his wife, Dr Sarah Jukaku, take the stage after he declares victory during a midterm election night party in Detroit, Michigan, early on November 4, 2026. [AFP]

Detroit, Michigan — Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed has defeated his Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, to win the United States Senate seat in Michigan, overcoming a campaign of anti-Muslim attacks spearheaded by President Donald Trump.

With the victory on Tuesday, El-Sayed is set to become the first Muslim senator in US history. He will be sworn in on January 3 .

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Maya Berry, executive director of the Arab American Institute (AAI), said Republicans had turned anti-Arab and anti-Muslim tropes into a pointed strategy against El-Sayed — one that eventually did not work.

“The electorate rejecting that bigotry is tremendous, I would argue, for every little boy named Abdul, every little girl named Zainab, every little kid named Bobby, because the reality is, at the end of the day, we’re talking about whether this country supports an inclusive democracy or not,” Berry told Al Jazeera.

After winning a hard-fought primary in August that saw the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) spend more than $30m against him, El-Sayed, a critic of Israel’s policies, was subjected to an avalanche of unfounded accusations — including that he is a “jihadist” — by Trump and other Republicans.

El-Sayed, a former public health official, campaigned on expanding government-funded healthcare to all Americans, getting money out of politics, and addressing the affordability crisis.

The Democrat has also accused Israel of carrying out a genocide in Gaza and called for investing money currently spent on foreign wars to instead fix local issues.

The final days of the campaign were rocked by El-Sayed’s former primary opponent, Democratic Congresswoman Haley Stevens — a staunch Israel supporter — endorsing Rogers.

El-Sayed’s win helps Democrats regain control of the Senate, but for many of his supporters, it means far more than a single seat in the upper chamber of Congress.

Throughout Election Day on Tuesday, voters in Michigan told Al Jazeera the election could determine the direction of the state and the country for years to come.

For Democrats, the vote was about rejecting Trump’s agenda and defeating the racist rhetoric from the president and his allies.

Republicans not only used Islamophobia against El-Sayed, but also invoked Arab-Black tensions to try to peel off African American voters from the Democratic coalition.

Michigan is home to a large Arab American community.

Trump seized on that narrative, saying that any Black or Jewish person who backs El-Sayed is “crazy”.

But early election results show that El-Sayed performed well with Black voters in Detroit.

Gary Colbert, who was casting his ballot on the west side of Detroit, denounced Trump’s comment about Black voters.

“Everybody kind of knows he’s the true nut. He says any and everything,” Colbert told Al Jazeera.

Colbert — who lamented the rise in gas prices due to the Iran war — added that Trump and “his cronies” are negatively affecting people’s lives, “and they don’t care”.

Trump, who is struggling with low approval ratings, told supporters in Michigan last month to vote as if he was on the ballot.

On Tuesday, Frank Espinosa, a teacher who was volunteering at a voting station in Southwest Detroit — home to a large Latino community — said protecting immigrants from Trump’s crackdown is a priority for voters in the city in this election. The Trump administration has targeted immigrant communities across the country by deploying Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers on the streets, tasked with arresting allegedly undocumented migrants. Dozens of people have been shot, and several of them killed — including American citizens protesting against what they see as reckless methods of enforcement.

“I think the number one thing we want is ICE out of our streets,” Espinosa told Al Jazeera.

“We also want the end to foreign wars. I know my students want their gas bills to be better. We want affordability all across our city, not just at the gas pump, but at the grocery store as well.”

He added that the campaign targeting El-Sayed’s Muslim faith and Arab identity is “incredibly disheartening”.

“I also know that Detroit is better than all of that, and I think that there’s a lot of noise outside of our state, outside of our city. But here, I know Detroiters will ultimately do the right thing and ultimately vote Abdul for Senate,” Espinosa said.

In neighbouring Dearborn, a Detroit suburb known as the Capital of Arab America, the vote — for many — was about the right to belong to the US.

Ali Baleed Almaklani, a leader in the Yemeni American community, said the anti-Muslim campaign motivated the Arab and Muslim community to increase its political participation.

“We are sick and tired and the American people are generally sick and tired of all this hate,” Almaklani told Al Jazeera.

“He’s talking about healthcare, about the economy, about the issues that are hurting people, and on the other side all they talk about is ‘terrorism’ and baseless accusations about the Muslim Brotherhood.”

Dearborn saw a high voter turnout on Tuesday, with lines stretching across polling stations.

Several voters told Al Jazeera they are responding to bigotry through the ballot box.

In an animated, expletive-laden interview, Dearborn voter Mike Mohammed criticised the Republican-led campaigns to paint Arabs and Muslims, including El-Sayed, as foreigners.

“We’re more American than them. I’m more American than any of them m************. I grew up here. I went to this school,” he said, pointing to the elementary school where the voting was taking place.

Sally Howell, an emeritus history professor at the University of Michigan-Dearborn who pioneered academic research about Arab American communities, said El-Sayed’s victory shows that the American people want change.

“This change also includes a rejection of hate in politics, especially anti-Muslim hate,” Howell told Al Jazeera. “And it includes a recognition of the value of Palestinian lives alongside those of Americans, immigrants, and so many others. For the Arab community in Michigan, it means people can wake up in the morning knowing that their contributions to the American body politic will be acknowledged, their voices heard and welcomed, their labour rewarded.”

这位进步派民主党人击败共和党人迈克·罗杰斯，赢得密歇根州席位，成为美国历史上第一位当选参议员的穆斯林。

2026年11月4日凌晨，在密歇根州底特律举行的中期选举之夜庆祝活动上，美国民主党参议员候选人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德宣布胜选后，与妻子萨拉·朱卡库博士一同登台。[法新社]

密歇根州底特律——民主党候选人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德击败共和党对手迈克·罗杰斯，赢得密歇根州美国参议院席位，战胜了由唐纳德·特朗普总统带头发起的反穆斯林攻击运动。

凭借周二的胜利，埃尔-赛义德将成为美国历史上首位穆斯林参议员。他将于1月3日宣誓就职。

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前管理委员会主席称，国际足联主席因凡蒂诺因不符合连任资格而被列入名单的4人中。

阿拉伯裔美国人研究所 (AAI) 执行主任玛雅·贝瑞表示，共和党人将反阿拉伯和反穆斯林的论调变成了针对埃尔-赛义德的尖锐策略——但最终这一策略并未奏效。

“我认为，选民拒绝这种偏见是意义非凡的，对于每一个名叫阿卜杜勒的小男孩、每一个名叫扎伊纳布的小女孩、每一个名叫鲍比的小男孩来说都是如此，因为归根结底，我们讨论的是这个国家是否支持包容性的民主，”贝瑞告诉半岛电视台。

在 8 月份一场艰苦的初选中获胜后，美国以色列公共事务委员会 (AIPAC) 花费了超过 3000 万美元来攻击以色列政策的埃尔-赛义德，遭到了特朗普和其他共和党人的铺天盖地的毫无根据的指控，包括称他是“圣战分子”。

曾任公共卫生官员的埃尔-赛义德竞选时承诺，将政府资助的医疗保健扩展到所有美国人，让金钱退出政治，并解决医疗费用负担能力危机。

这位民主党人还指责以色列在加沙实施种族灭绝，并呼吁将目前用于对外战争的资金转而用于解决当地问题。

竞选的最后几天，埃尔-赛义德的前党内初选对手、民主党国会议员海莉·史蒂文斯（一位坚定的以色列支持者）宣布支持罗杰斯，这给竞选带来了巨大震动。

埃尔-赛义德的胜利帮助民主党重新夺回了参议院的控制权，但对他的许多支持者来说，这不仅仅意味着在国会上议院获得一个席位。

周二选举日当天，密歇根州的选民告诉半岛电视台，这次选举可能会决定该州乃至国家未来几年的走向。

对民主党人来说，这次投票是为了拒绝特朗普的政策议程，并挫败总统及其盟友的种族主义言论。

共和党人不仅利用伊斯兰恐惧症攻击埃尔-赛义德，还煽动阿拉伯裔和黑人之间的紧张关系，试图从民主党联盟中拉拢非裔美国选民。

密歇根州拥有庞大的阿拉伯裔美国人社区。

特朗普抓住了这种说法，称任何支持埃尔-赛义德的黑人或犹太人都是“疯子”。

但早期选举结果显示，埃尔-赛义德在底特律的黑人选民中表现出色。

在底特律西区投票的加里·科尔伯特谴责了特朗普关于黑人选民的言论。

“大家都知道他是个十足的疯子。他什么都敢说，”科尔伯特告诉半岛电视台。

科尔伯特对伊朗战争导致汽油价格上涨表示遗憾，他还补充说，特朗普和他的“亲信”正在对人们的生活产生负面影响，“而且他们毫不在乎”。

特朗普的支持率一直很低，他上个月在密歇根州告诉支持者，要像他本人也在选票上一样去投票。

周二，在底特律西南区（拉丁裔人口众多）的一个投票站做志愿者的教师弗兰克·埃斯皮诺萨表示，保护移民免受特朗普政府的打压是该市选民在此次选举中的首要任务。特朗普政府通过在街头部署移民和海关执法局（ICE）官员来打击全国各地的移民社区，这些官员的任务是逮捕所谓的无证移民。数十人遭到枪击，其中数人死亡，包括一些抗议他们认为执法手段鲁莽的美国公民。

“我认为我们最希望的就是让美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）离开我们的街道，”埃斯皮诺萨告诉半岛电视台。

“我们也希望结束对外战争。我知道我的学生们希望他们的汽油费能降低。我们希望我们城市的方方面面都能负担得起，不仅仅是加油站，还有杂货店。”

他还补充说，针对赛义德的穆斯林信仰和阿拉伯身份的运动“令人极其沮丧”。

“我也知道底特律比这一切都好得多，而且我认为我们州以外、我们城市以外有很多杂音。但我相信，底特律人最终会做出正确的选择，最终会投票支持阿卜杜勒竞选参议员，”埃斯皮诺萨说道。

在邻近的底特律郊区迪尔伯恩（被称为“阿拉伯裔美国人之都”），对许多人来说，这次投票关乎他们是否有权成为美国公民。

也门裔美国人社区领袖阿里·巴利德·阿尔马克拉尼表示，反穆斯林运动激励了阿拉伯和穆斯林社区提高政治参与度。

“我们已经厌倦了，美国人民也普遍厌倦了这一切仇恨，”阿尔马克拉尼告诉半岛电视台。

“他谈论的是医疗保健、经济以及那些正在伤害人们的问题，而另一边的人却只谈论‘恐怖主义’和对穆斯林兄弟会的毫无根据的指控。”

周二，迪尔伯恩的投票率很高，各个投票站都排起了长队。

多位选民告诉半岛电视台，他们正在通过投票来回应偏见。

在一段情绪激动、脏话连篇的采访中，迪尔伯恩选民迈克·穆罕默德批评了共和党领导的运动，该运动将包括埃尔-赛义德在内的阿拉伯人和穆斯林描绘成外国人。

“我们比他们更像美国人。我比他们任何一个混蛋都更像美国人。我在这里长大。我上过这所学校，”他指着正在进行投票的小学说道。

密歇根大学迪尔伯恩分校历史系荣誉教授萨莉·豪厄尔（Sally Howell）是阿拉伯裔美国人社区学术研究的先驱，她说埃尔-赛义德的胜利表明美国人民想要改变。

“这一改变也包括摒弃政治中的仇恨，尤其是反穆斯林仇恨，”霍威尔告诉半岛电视台。“它还意味着承认巴勒斯坦人的生命与美国人、移民以及其他许多人的生命一样宝贵。对于密歇根州的阿拉伯社区来说，这意味着人们可以安心地知道，他们对美国政治的贡献将得到认可，他们的声音将被倾听和欢迎，他们的劳动将得到回报。”