Abdul El-Sayed, a steadfast progressive, has won Michigan’s open Senate seat, keeping it in Democratic hands in a state President Donald Trump carried two years ago.

El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers, a former congressman, for the seat held by retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters. The race was one of Republicans’ few realistic pickup opportunities this fall.

The contest had long been a test for both parties. El-Sayed, the former Wayne County health director, won the nomination in August by narrowly defeating Rep. Haley Stevens, whom many party leaders saw as the stronger general election candidate. He then ran an intense campaign from the left that energized supporters but risked alienating moderate voters.

Throughout the race, El-Sayed, who is Muslim, faced Islamophobic attacks. His campaign also worried some Jewish leaders and others in his own party amid deep fears about rising antisemitism.

Rogers fell fewer than 20,000 votes short of winning Michigan’s other Senate seat in 2024. That year, Republicans got a lift from Trump at the top of the ticket. This fall, the national environment has appeared far more favorable to Democrats, who have rallied voters weary of the president since his return to office.

Rogers tried to build a broad coalition. He courted voters who backed Trump in 2024 but not Rogers, along with Democrats uneasy about El-Sayed’s progressive style and priorities. But keeping Trump’s base on board while winning over swing voters was always going to be difficult in a year when the public had a chance in a midterm to rebuke the president.

Holding Michigan was seen as essential to Democrats’ hopes of retaking the Senate. A Rogers win would have cost the party a seat it held and made its difficult math even harder.

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