Abdul El-Sayed added to the Democratic Party’s historic midterm rout of President Donald Trump’s GOP on Wednesday by prevailing over former Rep. Mike Rogers in Michigan’s US Senate race, overcoming torrents of bigoted abuse from Republicans, a last-minute betrayal by his former primary opponent, and tens of millions of dollars in outside spending–including from an AIPAC-linked super PAC.
“Michigan, we did it,” El-Sayed declared in his victory speech, to thunderous applause from supporters gathered in Detroit. “This movement for money out of politics, money in your pocket, and Medicare for All—I just want to thank you, everybody who knocked a door, made a call, sent a dollar, posted a story, and, most importantly, gave us your stake in democracy.”
El-Sayed, who will become the nation’s first Muslim senator, cast his win as a rebuke of a right-wing opposition that “decided to try to divide us” by attacking his name and religious faith, launching what he described as “one of the ugliest campaigns we’ve seen in our lifetimes” to distract from the key issues facing American families, including the spiraling cost-of-living crisis.
“We all know that my name and my faith aren’t the reason you can’t afford your gas,” said the senator-elect. “Not the reason you can’t afford your groceries. Not the reason you can’t see a doctor.”
To his Republican opponent, El-Sayed said: “Mike, enjoy your retirement. I know you got a house in Florida and two yachts. See, you chose hate, and Michigan chose hope.”
Watch El-Sayed’s victory speech in full:
With El-Sayed’s win, Democrats have secured 54 US Senate seats starting in January, along with the party’s control of the US House of Representatives, where Democrats are on track to have their largest majority since 2008.
As of 5:00 am ET Wednesday morning, two US Senate races had yet to be called and were razor-close: Alaska and Mississippi.
Joining El-Sayed in representing Michigan in the US Congress will be progressive activist and Sunrise Movement cofounder Will Lawrence, who was projected to defeat Republican incumbent Tom Barrett despite being heavily outspent.
“Democrats won tonight because they ran on economic populism, not milquetoast, status quo politics," said Aru Shiney-Ajay, the Sunrise Movement’s executive director. “That’s why $30 million in corporate spending against Lawrence, the most expensive House race in US history, wasn’t enough to defeat him. Young people knocked on tens of thousands of doors and made hundreds of thousands of dials to elect him because they want a new Democratic Party.”
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