Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive, pro-Palestinian former Detroit health official, is projected to win a hotly contested Michigan Senate primary election against centrist Democrat Haley Stevens.
Mr El-Sayed will now go up against Republican Mike Rogers in the midterms in November and, if victorious, will become the first Muslim to serve in the US Senate.
"Money out of politics. Money in your pocket. Medicare for All. Michigan...We won," Mr El-Sayed said in a post on X. "I am so proud to be your Democratic nominee for US Senate. Let's win in November."
He added in a speech after results were announced: "You're not supposed to beat $70 million in outside spending ... What we showed is that the power of our many is greater than the power of their money."
The Democratic primary race between Mr El-Sayed and Ms Stevens attracted national attention, with many seeing it as an indicator of the ideological direction of the Democratic Party.
The location of the primary race, Michigan, also gives more weight to Mr El-Sayed's victory. The state, home to the largest Arab-American community in the US, is seen as crucial for the Democrats to take back control of the White House in 2028.
Having previously run for governor, Mr El-Sayed is no stranger to Michigan politics, but he is relatively new to the national US political scene.
The Egyptian-American physician has leaned into policy planks that resonate with the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.
He has promised voters that he will push for universal health care and abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, or ICE.
In contrast with many politicians, he has openly called Israel’s war in Gaza a genocide.
His primary opponent, Ms Stevens, had appeared to gain some momentum in the final weeks of the campaign, securing endorsements from Democratic Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Ms Stevens had also received an endorsement from departing Democratic senator, Gary Peters.
However, Mr El-Sayed, like New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, used social media to tout his progressive ideas, gaining a loyal following in the high-profile primary campaign.
Some centrist Democrats have warned that Mr El-Sayed will struggle to secure moderate support in the general election, an accusation that the progressive consistently faced throughout the primary.
The election will take place on November 3. Hopes are high among Democrats that the party can deliver a stunning rebuke to President Donald Trump by taking control of the House and Senate.
"Great news for the Republican Party," said US President Donald Trump in a social media post after the results were announced, describing Mr El-Sayed as a "communist loser who hates Jews and Israel".
Though Mr El-Sayed's stance on Israel has caused consternation among some Jewish voters in Michigan, his populist economic and social issue stances have also led to enthusiasm among the community as well. "Jews for Abdul," reads a t-shirt for sale on Mr Sayed's campaign website.
Polls monitoring
As polls opened in Michigan on Tuesday, the US Justice Department announced it was monitoring several polling locations “to ensure transparency, ballot security and compliance with federal law”.
The Justice Department said the cities of Detroit, Hamtramck, Lansing and East Lansing would be closely watched.
That decision drew scrutiny, in part because those locations have tended to be more liberal and have a higher concentration of minority populations.
The Trump White House has claimed that voter fraud is prevalent throughout the US, though experts have debunked such claims.
Mr Trump has insisted that his defeat to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 was the result of voter fraud, but has yet to offer any solid evidence to back up that claim.
Still, the Justice Department has made election monitoring a priority.
“Our primary monitoring efforts continue today as we seek to ensure free and fair elections nationwide,” said US assistant attorney general Harmeet Dhillon. “The Department of Justice is devoting extensive resources to ensure uniform and non-discriminatory monitoring.”
US attorney Timothy VerHey, representing the western district of Michigan, echoed those sentiments. “Transparency promotes both trust and better behaviour in election administration,” he said.
Shortly after most networks called the primary for Mr Sayed, President Trump again, without evidence implied that cheating played a role.
"Wayne County (Detroit) in Michigan is one of the most corrupt voting areas in the United States," he wrote in a lengthy post on Truth Social, his social media platform.
Direction of Democratic Party
Timothy Kneeland, a political scientist and public policy historian at Nazareth University in western New York, said that although supporters of Mr El-Sayed will be thrilled with his victory, there are several reasons to temper that enthusiasm.
"Currently with nearly 99 per cent of the vote cast the gap between the candidates is just 14,000 votes, and furthermore, there was a third candidate on the ballot, Mallory Morrow, who dropped out of the race early in July," Mr Kneeland said, pointing out that Ms Morrow still managed to get 61,000 votes.
"If you do the maths, that means that more Democrats voted against El-Sayed than voted for the candidate but in the US, it is plurality of votes that wins elections."
He added that, all things considered, Mr El-Sayed's victory is still impressive, given the outside financial contributions dedicated to defeating him as well as the high-profile elected officials who endorsed his opponent.
In the end, however, he said that Mr El-Sayed must find a way to win over more moderate voters as he faces Republican Mr Rogers in November.
"They must not only win primaries," he said, referring to the progressive and far-left wings of the Democratic Party. "They will have to win elections and then attempt to enact their agenda."
