Son of Egyptian Immigrants Abdul El-Sayed Is the First Muslim Elected to the US Senate

Abdul El-Sayed, a Democrat from Michigan, has beaten Republican Mike Rogers to become the first Muslim elected to the US Senate, according to a projection by Decision Desk HQ, an election data firm.

For the Gulf, one sentence stands out. "I don't think we should be funding foreign militaries generally," he said in remarks reported by The Times of Israel last week. "That's Israel. It's also Egypt. It's also Saudi Arabia and Qatar and UAE." Gulf states largely pay for American weapons themselves.

On Iran, he calls the war illegal and says it has stopped the US moving oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz. Asked on Tuesday about US strikes on Iran's Qeshm Island, he said: "We need less war, not more." He wants Democrats to "hold the president accountable and end this war."

President Donald Trump called him a "jihadist Muslim Brotherhood member." He denies any ties, and PolitiFact rated false a claim by Rogers that he had not disavowed the group. The attacks point to a 2012 statement he signed with 45 other Egyptian Americans backing Egypt's elected president Mohamed Morsi, a senior Brotherhood leader. The name carries weight in the Gulf: Saudi Arabia and the UAE both designated the Brotherhood a terrorist group in 2014, and Reuters said the Saudi move could increase pressure on Qatar over its backing for the group.

He was born in Michigan in 1984 to Egyptian immigrants, and his father grew up in Alexandria. A doctor, he ran the health departments of Detroit and Wayne County. "I'm not running to be a Muslim senator," he has said. "I'm running for U.S. Senate and happen to be Muslim."

Photo: Abdul El-Sayed campaign.