Star Metro - Abdul El-Sayed declares victory in Michigan Senate contest

Detroit: Democrat Abdul El-Sayed said early Wednesday that he had won a US Senate seat in Michigan over former Republican lawmaker Mike Rogers, which would make him the first Muslim elected to the upper chamber of Congress. "Michigan, we did it!" El-Sayed said in a speech at his election headquarters in Detroit.

"I am so proud and honored to stand here as your senator-elect from the great state of Michigan." El-Sayed won despite a last-minute hiccup in his campaign when congresswoman Haley Stevens, who lost the Democratic primary to El-Sayed, came out in support of Rogers at the 11th hour.

The Michigan doctor rallied voters on leftist campaign promises, including universal health care, to hold a key US Senate seat for Democrats, taking over from the retiring Gary Peters. Republicans ran a scorched-earth campaign to paint Democrats as communists and branded El-Sayed a terrorist who would endanger Americans.

But the straight-talking 42-year-old El-Sayed pledged to help cash-strapped voters navigate America's thorny health care system. "You deserve to be able to see a doctor without getting a huge bill," he told Michiganders on the eve of the vote, vowing to upend America's divisive multi-billion-dollar for-profit medical system.

During the race, El-Sayed drew huge campaign crowds across the state, even in deeply conservative Republican areas. El-Sayed also vowed to get "money out of politics" and address the harsh economic woes that have voters yearning for a political newcomer to shake up the status quo.

The election makes El-Sayed the first Democratic doctor in the Senate since 1969. —AFP

G.Boudreau--SMC