Democrat Abdul el-Sayed has won the race for an open United States Senate seat in Michigan, defeating Republican Mike Rogers.

El-Sayed, the son of Egyptian immigrants, will become the first Muslim senator in the US.

The former Wayne County health director prevailed after a grassroots campaign built around progressive policies such as Medicare for All and strong criticism of Israel.

“To all the parents who struggled to explain why the president openly mocks someone for their name or how they pray, let them know tomorrow that the bad guys lost,” El-Sayed told cheering supporters during his victory speech on Wednesday.

He also repeated his core campaign messaging: on affordability, getting money out of politics, passing Medicare for All, and ending funding for foreign wars.

“It shouldn’t be this hard to pay your taxes and know that money is going to be spent on you and your kids, instead of dropping bombs on somebody else and their kids,” the 42-year-old said.

El-Sayed also rounded on Vice President JD Vance and President Donald Trump – both of whom have launched Islamophobic and racially charged rhetoric at him throughout the campaign.

Addressing Trump, he said: “Donald, I know you struggled with my name. So after JD swears me in in January, you can just go on to call me ‘Senator’.”

No Republican has won a Senate race in the state since 1994, but the retirement of two-term Democratic Senator Gary Peters created a rare opening. The race became a focal point in the national fight for Senate control, drawing well over $100m in advertising since the August 4 primary.

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“We showed that in a battle between the money and the many that the many can win,” El-Sayed said.

The final days of his campaign were complicated by a fallout within Democratic ranks. On Sunday, Haley Stevens, his opponent in the Democratic primary, came out in support of Rogers and slammed El-Sayed for his campaign’s “hate”.

Unlike many of the Democrats’ hard-fought victories on Tuesday, both of Michigan’s seats in the Senate were already held by Democrats, so El-Sayed’s victory does not meaningfully tip the balance in the chamber.

However, his politics – which are considered more left-wing and radical than the majority of the Democratic caucus – have drawn attention throughout the campaign.

In his victory speech, he reiterated messaging that has buoyed his campaign on “taking on the corporations and the billionaires”.

That messaging is part of a wave of up-and-coming Democrats – sometimes referred to as populists – who are breaking from the party’s traditional lines on issues like US support for Israel, socialism and corporate money in politics.