Updated November 9, 2026 at 2:14 PM EST
Election Day in Dearborn, Mich., saw certain precincts running out registration forms — with the highest number of voters in the city's history turning out to help elect Abdul El-Sayed to the Senate. "We had record-breaking turnout," Dearborn's mayor, Abdullah Hammoud, told Morning Edition.
El-Sayed's platform of getting money out of politics and into voters' pockets resonated with Dearborn residents, Hammoud said. "I think what got them to the polls are candidates who centered the issues of working class families, like many of the Arab American and Muslim American families right here in the city of Dearborn," he said.
During the 2024 presidential primary, Hammoud took part in the Uncommitted National Movement, where hundreds of thousands of voters refused to vote for Biden to express their frustration with the administration's sale of military aid to Israel. And that election cycle, the city of Dearborn, which is the first Arab majority city in the U.S., voted for President Trump.
What changed in 2026? Hammoud said that Dearborn residents were motivated by El-Sayed's message that "billions spent over there, bombing schools and killing families, are billions less spent here, building schools and uplifting families."
El-Sayed will be the first Muslim American to serve in Congress. He faced attacks about his ethnicity and religion during the campaign cycle. In August, far-right activist Jake Lang launched an anti-Muslim protest he called a "Christian Crusade" through Dearborn's streets.
Hammoud said El-Sayed's win showed that Michiganders believe in an America "that's big enough for all of us." If you're a candidate who centers the issues of working class families, Hammoud said "what doesn't matter is the direction in which you pray. What matters more is the direction in which you wish to lead."
"I think Dr. Abdul said it best," Hammoud added. "[Dr. Abdul] said, my faith and my ethnicity is not why gas prices are at an all-time high. My faith and my ethnicity is not why the grocery bill keeps climbing, not why utility costs are skyrocketing, not why political corruption is rampant. And I think we have an America that is big enough to see through the smokescreen of the bigotry and be welcoming of all people."
While speaking to NPR's Leila Fadel, Hammoud discussed El-Sayed's victory over a well-funded opposition campaign, the shift in strategy candidates used to engage voters in Dearborn and the real-life impact of anti-Muslim rhetoric.
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