Egyptian-American Abdul El-Sayed Wins Michigan Primary
Abdul El-Sayed has won Michigan's Democratic Senate primary by 1.4 points, defeating Representative Haley Stevens after outside groups spent more than $60 million trying to stop him.
Abdul El-Sayed has won the Democratic nomination for the US Senate in Michigan, beating Representative Haley Stevens in one of the most expensive primaries in American history.
NBC News projected the result late on Tuesday. With about 93% of the vote counted, El-Sayed led 48.7% to 47.3%.
If he wins in November, the Egyptian-American physician would become the first Muslim to sit in the US Senate.
More than USD 60 million was spent on the race, most of it by outside groups working to keep him out. AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobbying group, put more than USD 30 million behind Stevens alone.
"Money out of politics. Money in your pocket. Medicare for All," El-Sayed wrote on Instagram. "Michigan, we won."
He is a doctor and epidemiologist who ran Detroit's health department, and lost the 2018 governor's primary to Gretchen Whitmer. This campaign ran on healthcare, abolishing ICE, getting corporate money out of politics, and opposition to Israel's war on Gaza. Bernie Sanders endorsed him.
Michigan has the largest Arab American population per capita in the US, and that electorate organised behind him for months.
He faces Republican Mike Rogers in November, in a race that could decide control of the Senate for the rest of Trump's term.
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