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Michigan Elects Abdul El-Sayed, Will Be First Muslim US Senator
The Detroit health official and epidemiologist beat Republican Mike Rogers 52.5% to 45.5% to win Michigan's open Senate seat.
Abdul El-Sayed, a physician and epidemiologist who once ran Detroit's health department, defeated Republican Mike Rogers 52.5% to 45.5% to win Michigan's U.S. Senate seat. The Guardian and NBC News report he will be the first Muslim American elected to the U.S. Senate. Here are eight facts about who he is and how he got there.
1. He's a Michigan kid
Abdul El-Sayed was born Oct. 31, 1984, in Rochester Hills, outside Detroit, to Egyptian immigrant parents, according to his Wikipedia biography. He grew up in southeast Michigan.
2. Three-sport captain
At Bloomfield Hills Andover High School, he captained the wrestling, football and lacrosse teams.
3. A Bill Clinton nudge
He gave the student commencement speech at the University of Michigan in 2007. Bill Clinton was the keynote speaker that day, and El-Sayed has said Clinton encouraged him afterward to consider public service.
4. Rhodes Scholar with a yellow card
At Oxford, El-Sayed earned a doctorate in public health in 2011. He captained the men's lacrosse team and earned a full blue, though he took a yellow card in the varsity final. In his Rhodes application, he wrote: "My religion teaches that if one saves a life, she has saved all of humanity".
5. Doctor and professor
He got his M.D. from Columbia in 2014 and taught epidemiology at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health.
6. Detroit's youngest health chief
In 2015, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan named El-Sayed head of the Detroit Health Department. At 30, he was the youngest health officer in a major U.S. city at the time. He rebuilt the department after the city's bankruptcy and tested schools for lead following the Flint water crisis.
7. A podcaster and a debt-killer
Since 2019, El-Sayed has hosted the Crooked Media podcast "America Dissected". As Wayne County's health director, he also launched a program to buy and erase up to $700 million in medical debt for about 300,000 residents.
8. Second try, history made
El-Sayed lost a 2018 run for governor. This year he beat Rep. Haley Stevens in the primary, then defeated Mike Rogers in the general election, 52.5% to 45.5%, a margin of 334,868 votes, according to the Exa Election Library, which called the race at 2:27 a.m. ET Wednesday. The Guardian and NBC News both report he will be the first Muslim U.S. senator.
