Michigan’s First Muslim Senator-Elect Won Despite 7 Lines of Attack: Here’s What El-Sayed Said

Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic physician and former Detroit health director, won Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat on Nov. 3, 2026, defeating Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers. With 97% of the expected vote counted, he led 52.5% to 45.5%, and the Associated Press called the race at 2:27 a.m. ET on Nov. 4. He will be the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate and succeeds retiring Sen. Gary Peters.

His win followed one of the most heated campaigns of the midterm elections. Opponents and outside groups built ads around his past and present statements on Israel, policing, prisons, immigration enforcement and artificial intelligence. Below is what he said, what critics said and what independent fact-checkers found.

Israel’s “right to exist”

In a July 2026 CNN interview, anchor Kasie Hunt asked El-Sayed three times whether Israel has a right to exist. He replied that “Israel exists” and said, “I’m not going to play this gotcha game about whether or not it has a right to exist.” He added: “The question of whether Israel has a right to exist is actually quite secondary to whether it has a right to our tax dollars.”

He told Hunt the question everyone should ask is whether “everybody has equal rights to peace, dignity, and self-determination,” including Jews, Israelis and Palestinians, and noted that nobody had asked him whether Palestine has a right to exist. Critics, including Fox News and pro-Israel outlets, described the exchange as a dodge.

Gaza, the West Bank and U.S. aid

El-Sayed has called Israel’s conduct in Gaza a genocide and said Israel is carrying out apartheid in the West Bank, PolitiFact reported. On Jon Stewart’s podcast he said: “The money that we are spending to subsidize apartheid in the West Bank is money that should be used on the West Side (of Detroit). That’s our money. It should be spent here.”

In an April CNN interview with Manu Raju, he agreed that the Israeli government is as evil as Hamas, according to Jewish Insider: “Killing tens of thousands of people makes you pretty damn evil. … Hamas — evil. Israeli government — evil. We can say both.”

On CNN’s “The Source” in August, he told Kaitlan Collins he opposes U.S. funding for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. “I don’t believe that there’s really a difference between offensive or defensive weapons,” he said, and when pressed: “I am against it.” He framed the stance as opposition to “unconditional military aid for any country,” naming Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE as well.

His defeated primary rival, Rep. Haley Stevens, said in late October that he blames Israel for what Michigan cannot afford, and she later endorsed Rogers, NBC News reported. PolitiFact found his critique is broader than Stevens described: he has also proposed taxing billionaires and cutting military spending. PolitiFact also noted that cutting aid to Israel would not automatically send money to Michigan programs. The U.S. provides about $3.8 billion in military aid to Israel each year, according to PolitiFact.

“Defund the police”

In a June 2020 interview with Detroit’s NPR station, El-Sayed said, “I believe that we do need to defund the police insofar as defunding the police is disinvesting in the means of incarcerating someone or killing them on the streets, and investing more in the means of educating and empowering, engaging communities.” He added that he preferred to call it “re-funding” public health, libraries and schools.

Ads from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, SLF PAC and a Trump-linked super PAC played only the first part of the quote. FactCheck.org said the ads “either omit context or exaggerate his past policy proposals,” noting he has campaigned in 2026 on funding police “recruitment and retention and retirement.” PolitiFact rated Rogers’ claim that El-Sayed “supports defunding police and emptying prisons” Mostly False. His campaign told FactCheck.org, “No, Abdul El-Sayed does not support defunding the police.”

Prisons and sentence commutations

One ad said El-Sayed had a “plan” to “commute sentences for murderers and rapists.” FactCheck.org traced it to his unsuccessful 2018 campaign for governor, which proposed considering commutations for people convicted as minors who were “deemed low risk” or who had served more than 25 years of “lengthy or life sentences.” He has not proposed that in his Senate run. Another ad said he “called for abolishing prisons,” which FactCheck.org said he never did. That claim was based on a 2020 webinar where he urged reducing Michigan’s prison population during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abolishing ICE

At an April rally at Michigan State University, El-Sayed called for abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after the fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis, The State News reported. “There is no reforming, there is no retraining, there is only abolishing ICE,” he said. Republicans, including House Republican Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain, cast such progressive immigration positions as too radical, The Washington Post reported.

“Public control” of AI companies

In August the Republican National Committee posted a 16-second clip in which El-Sayed said, “I agree that we need public ownership, but I also agree that we need some system of public control.” The RNC said it showed support for “a communist-style government seizure of private companies.”

PolitiFact reviewed the full 50-minute June 12 episode of the “Head in the Office” podcast and found he was speaking specifically about artificial intelligence companies. He described possible public representation on boards or “a public oversight body,” and conditions on data centers, including that “we can shut you down” if companies break them. PolitiFact concluded the remarks did not show support for communism. His campaign told PolitiFact he is not calling for broad government ownership of private companies.

Campaigning with Hasan Piker

El-Sayed held an April rally at Michigan State with streamer Hasan Piker, who has drawn criticism from both parties over remarks including a 2019 statement that “America deserved 9/11,” which Piker later said he did not literally mean. MSU Hillel called Piker “a known antisemite,” The State News reported.

El-Sayed told Fox & Friends, “Of course I oppose rape. Of course I don’t think 9/11 was justified,” and said appearing with someone “doesn’t mean you agree with them on everything.” He told POLITICO that “this whole gotcha game, platform policing, cancel culture — I thought we were over it.” In August, after Piker suggested some pro-Israel rhetoric could lead to backlash against American Jews, El-Sayed distanced himself from those comments, the Associated Press reported.

By the numbers

• Final margin: 52.5% to 45.5%, a 7.0-point lead (335,076 votes) with 97% counted.
• El-Sayed: 2,505,465 votes; Rogers: 2,170,389.
• U.S. military aid to Israel: about $3.8 billion a year (PolitiFact).
• No Republican has won a Michigan Senate seat since 1994 (NBC News).

Vote figures are from results tables published by The Guardian as of Nov. 4, 12:44 p.m. ET.

Sources

• The Guardian, El-Sayed wins Michigan Senate race
• NBC News, El-Sayed wins Michigan's Senate race
• Mediaite, CNN interview transcript (Kasie Hunt)
• RealClearPolitics, CNN interview video
• PolitiFact, What El-Sayed has said about Israel
• Jewish Insider, Israeli government and Hamas remarks
• The Forward
• yourNEWS, Iron Dome remarks on CNN
• FactCheck.org, ads on policing and prisons
• PolitiFact, Mostly False rating
• PolitiFact, "public ownership" comments
• The State News, MSU rally and ICE
• Fox News, El-Sayed on Piker
• POLITICO, El-Sayed and Piker
• The Washington Post (AP), El-Sayed distances himself from Piker

Additional sources

• Associated Press, El-Sayed wins Michigan Senate race
• WKAR Public Media, AP call at 2:27 a.m.
• The Eastern Echo, AP results with 97% counted
• Wikimedia Commons, featured photo file page