Abdul El-Sayed

Abdul El-Sayed is the son of immigrants from Egypt; he was born and raised in Metro Detroit and grew up in Bloomfield Hills, a suburb north of Detroit.⁠[1][2]

El-Sayed earned a bachelor of science degree with highest distinction from the University of MichiganUniversity of MichiganThe University of Michigan is a university founded in Detroit in 1817 that moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1837; it is governed by a statewide-elected Board of Regents and also has campuses in Dearborn and Flint.Open the full entry in Ann Arbor in 2007, double-majoring in biology and political science, and played on the university’s lacrosse team.⁠[3][2]

He won a Rhodes Scholarship to study public health at Oriel College and the Nuffield Department of Population Health at the University of OxfordUniversity of OxfordThe University of Oxford is a university in Oxford, England, where teaching existed in some form by 1096; it describes itself as the oldest university in the English-speaking world and is organised as a federal system of the university and dozens of self-governing colleges.Open the full entry, earning a DPhil in public health in 2011.⁠[2][3]

In 2012 he received a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans to pursue a PhD in epidemiology and an MD at Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia University, formally Columbia University in the City of New York, is a private research university in New York City and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1754 by royal charter from King George II as King's College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in New York State and the fifth oldest in the United States. It was renamed Columbia College in 1784 and adopted the university name and moved to Manhattan's Morningside Heights in 1896. It has 17 schools and four affiliated colleges, with 35,978 students enrolled in fall 2025. Legal scholar Jennifer L. Mnookin became president on July 1, 2026.Open the full entry; he earned his MD from Columbia’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons in 2014 and also holds a PhD in epidemiology from Columbia.⁠[1][3]

In 2014 El-Sayed was appointed an assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.⁠[2]

After Detroit’s bankruptcy filing in 2013, El-Sayed was hired in 2015 to run the city’s health department, serving from August 2015 as executive director of the Detroit Health Department and the city’s health officer. He left in February 2017 to run for governor.⁠[2][3][1]

In 2018 El-Sayed ran in Michigan’s Democratic primary for governor with the endorsement of Senator Bernie Sanders; he finished second, losing to Gretchen Whitmer by more than 20 points.⁠[4]

On April 17, 2025, El-Sayed entered the race for Michigan’s U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Gary Peters, who was not seeking re-election. He said he was moved to run by the federal overhaul under President Donald Trump and Elon MuskElon MuskElon Musk is an entrepreneur who founded SpaceX and has long served as chief executive of Tesla; he also took part in creating PayPal, OpenAI, Neuralink, The Boring Company, and xAI. He acquired Twitter in 2022, and his businesses span spaceflight, electric vehicles, energy, artificial intelligence, and social media.Open the full entry, including cuts at the nation’s top health agencies, and said: “It’s way too hard to survive here in the richest, most powerful country in the world.”⁠[4][5]

In Michigan’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary on August 4, 2026, El-Sayed defeated U.S. Representative Haley Stevens 48.5% to 47.5%, while state Senator Mallory McMorrow, who had withdrawn but remained on the ballot, received 4.0%; the Associated Press projected his win on August 5. In November he faced the Republican nominee, former U.S. Representative Mike Rogers.⁠[3][6]

In Michigan’s U.S. Senate election on November 3, 2026, El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers for the open seat; the Associated Press called the race for him.⁠[7]

El-Sayed has been Policymaker in Residence at the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy and host of the podcast “America Dissected.” Before his Senate run he was director of Wayne County’s Department of Health, Human & Veterans Services, a post he held until 2025.⁠[1][6][4]

Abdul for U.S. Senate: Official website: https://abdulforsenate.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[5]

X: Public account: https://x.com/AbdulElSayed (opens in a new window).⁠[5]

YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: Public channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/abdulelsayed (opens in a new window).⁠[5]