(The Center Square) – The Michigan U.S. Senate race between progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers is too close to call, with votes still being counted in one of the nation’s most closely watched contests.
El-Sayed and Rogers remain locked in a tight contest. Michigan has not elected a Republican to the U.S. Senate since 1994, and Rogers also lost his bid for the seat in 2024.
With 48% of precincts reporting at midnight, El-Sayed was leading 50.3%-47.8%, with more than 2.4 million votes counted.
The winner will succeed Democratic U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, who was first elected in 2014. Peters announced in January 2025 that he would not seek reelection.
The race between El-Sayed and Rogers was particularly heated and was considered one of the nation’s most consequential U.S. Senate contests, with control of the 120th Congress hanging in the balance.
Democrats were divided during the primary between El-Sayed and establishment-backed U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens. El-Sayed, who is seeking to become the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate, narrowly defeated Stevens.
Following the primary, much of the Democratic establishment rallied behind the 41-year-old El-Sayed. Former President Barack Obama campaigned alongside him in Detroit. However, Stevens broke with her party’s nominee, endorsing Rogers in the final days of the campaign.
Going into election night, El-Sayed was leading Rogers in the polls by upwards of 6%, generally outside the margin of error.
In 2024, Michigan’s U.S. Senate race was decided by less than half a percentage point, with Democrat Elissa Slotkin narrowly defeating Rogers. Rogers returned as the Republican nominee in 2026 after securing the party’s nomination unopposed.
El-Sayed is seeking to become the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate. He has cast himself as a progressive and faced repeated allegations of extremism throughout his campaign. During a weekend rally, Trump called him a “jihadist” and said he was “on the side of the terrorists.”
The 41-year-old responded to the president’s frequent attacks on the campaign trail.
“I don't even care that he remembers my whole name because he can just go on and call me ‘senator’ after November,” El-Sayed said during a rally Sunday. “I will be Senator Muhammad to you, bro.”