The key facts
- Michigan has an open Senate seat: Gary Peters chose not to seek re-election in January 2025
- According to the NYT/Siena poll of November 1, El-Sayed receives 53% and Rogers 42%
- El-Sayed is backed by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
An open Senate seat in Michigan
Midterm elections are underway in the United States to determine the composition of Congress: all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 Senate seats are up for election, along with governors in a number of states. Republicans currently control 53 Senate seats; according to Kun.uz, Democrats need to hold their positions and pick up four more seats to gain a majority. Michigan holds a special place in this campaign: incumbent Democratic senator Gary Peters announced in January 2025 that he would not seek re-election, so the seat is open. It is being contested by Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, a former health department official, and Republican former congressman Mike Rogers.
Polls and the candidate's biography
The latest polls show El-Sayed with an advantage: in the final poll by The New York Times and Siena College, published on November 1, he received 53% against Rogers' 42%. The candidate himself was born in Michigan in 1984 to a family of immigrants from Egypt, graduated from the University of Michigan, earned a doctorate in public health from Oxford and a medical degree from Columbia University. In 2015, the mayor of Detroit appointed him head of the city's health department; in 2018 he lost the primary to Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and then expanded his audience through podcasts, books and television. He announced his Senate run in April 2025, shortly after Peters' announcement.
Support and the intra-party contest
Senator Bernie Sanders has supported El-Sayed from the first day of the campaign, and since July 2026, so has House member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. In the primary on August 4, he edged out his fellow Democrat, congresswoman Haley Stevens, by less than one percentage point. As Kun.uz notes, if he wins, El-Sayed could become the first Muslim senator in US history. “In the richest and most powerful country in the world, it is too hard to get by. Everyday life should not be this difficult,” he told the AP news agency upon announcing his candidacy.
