El-Sayed's Michigan win sets stage for 1-0 Wolverine victory over Vance

Abdul El-Sayed declared victory in Michigan’s U.S. Senate race on election night, positioning himself to become the first Muslim elected to the chamber. His projected win over Republican Mike Rogers allows him to take aim at Vice President JD Vance, who will be constitutionally required to swear in the new senator in January.

During a speech to supporters in Detroit, El-Sayed addressed the vice president directly with the greeting, 'JD, habibi.' He described the situation as having 'delicious irony' because Vance must perform the oath for the man he fought hard to unseat. The crowd roared in response to the remark.

The exchange follows a contentious campaign where Vance launched personal attacks against El-Sayed. Vance once told a rally crowd he would love to go back in time to tell his 'papaw' about El-Sayed’s past comments on Islamic law. El-Sayed responded by asking if Vance would bring his wife, Usha Vance, along on that trip. Vance later demanded that El-Sayed keep his wife’s name out of the debate, prompting El-Sayed to tell both Vance and President Trump to confront their own hypocrisy.

Vance also made errors during the race, including mispronouncing El-Sayed’s name and joking about arresting the candidate for his 'patchy' facial hair. These moments intensified the feud between the two candidates as the election approached.

El-Sayed used his victory to tease Vance about their college backgrounds. El-Sayed is a graduate of the University of Michigan, while Vance attended the rival Ohio State University. On the social media platform X, El-Sayed posted that his win meant 'Wolverine 1, Buckeye 0.'

The next scheduled step for El-Sayed is his formal swearing-in ceremony in January. This event will be presided over by Vice President Vance, fulfilling the constitutional obligation El-Sayed highlighted during his Detroit speech.