Abdul El-Sayed wins Michigan Senate seat amid fight over 'hate' label

Summary

Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan's US Senate seat on 3 November, becoming the first Muslim American elected to the Senate. In an opinion piece, Middle East Eye argues that his critics turned a debate over US funding for what it calls Israel's genocide in Gaza into an attack on his character by labelling his defence of Palestinians as 'hate'. The word dogged his campaign: Republican Mike Rogers denounced his 'hateful ideology', and Haley Stevens, whom El-Sayed beat in the primary, switched her endorsement to Rogers two days before the vote. In his victory speech, El-Sayed said 'hate' or 'hateful' five times, telling Rogers, 'You chose hate, and Michigan chose hope,' and saying that defending Palestinian children is 'not hate. It's love.'

Timeline

1. Middle East Eye

   10 Nov 2026, 18:59 UTCSource ↗

   In an opinion piece, Middle East Eye argues that critics of Abdul El-Sayed smeared his defence of Palestinians as 'hate', attacking his motives rather than the debate over US funding for Israel's war in Gaza, and it describes how he answered the label in his victory speech.