Michigan’s US Senate race is now set to feature Abdul El-Sayed, an Egyptian-American Rhodes Scholar who defeated Congresswoman Haley Stevens in the Democratic primary with 744,952 votes. The victory marks El-Sayed's first successful bid for elected office. In 2018, he ran for governor, finishing second to Gretchen Whitmer in the Democratic primary. Whitmer won all 83 Michigan counties in that race, though El-Sayed came within two-tenths of a percentage point of taking Washtenaw County, where he currently lives.
At 41, he brings a background in medicine and public health to a contest usually shaped by party politics and campaign spending. He once led Detroit’s health department but has never held elected office.
