MICHIGAN — History was made about 60 miles north of Toledo overnight. Democrat Abdul El-Sayed defeated Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers in Michigan’s open U.S. Senate race, becoming the first Muslim ever elected to the U.S. Senate.

The Associated Press called the race at 2:27 a.m. ET Wednesday, and it wasn’t close. AP’s early tally showed El-Sayed ahead 52.4% to Rogers’ 45.6%, and USA Today’s 11 a.m. ET tally put him at 53%–45% with 95% of ballots counted.

El-Sayed, 42, an epidemiologist and the former health director of Wayne County, will succeed retiring Sen. Gary Peters when the new Congress is seated in January 2027, NPR/AP reported.

The margin was built in the Detroit metro and Michigan’s college towns: El-Sayed carried Wayne County 71%–27%, Washtenaw County 74%, Ingham County 69%, Dearborn 82%–17% and Detroit itself 92%, per AP results.

The road there was anything but ordinary. El-Sayed narrowly edged Rep. Haley Stevens by about one point in August’s Democratic primary — then Stevens stunned the state by endorsing Rogers two days before the general election. It wasn’t enough.

Declaring victory in Detroit around 1:30 a.m., El-Sayed told supporters: “I’m not a politician. I’m a doctor with an 11-letter first name.”

Rogers, the former House Intelligence Committee chairman, had not explicitly conceded as of Wednesday afternoon, instead releasing a statement thanking his supporters.

Image: Conlan Houston, via Wikimedia Commons.

Sources: Associated Press | USA Today | NPR/AP | People