Hyderabad, Nov. 5: Abdul El-Sayed, elected to the US Senate from Michigan, has a family connection to Karnataka through his wife, Dr Sarah Jukaku, whose family roots trace back to Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada district.
El-Sayed, 42, defeated Republican candidate Mike Rogers by approximately 52 per cent to 46 per cent. He will succeed retiring Democratic Senator Gary Peters.
His wife was born and raised in Michigan to Indian immigrant parents. Her father, Dr Tayeb Jukaku, is a nephrologist from Bhatkal, a coastal town around 140 km north of Mangaluru.
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The family belongs to the Nawayath Muslim community. Her grandfather, lawyer J.H. Shamsuddin Jukaku, served as deputy finance minister in the former Mysore State government under Chief Minister B.D. Jatti.
Sarah studied at the University of Michigan and Oxford before earning her medical degree from Columbia University. The couple met at Michigan through the Muslim Students’ Association and married in 2006. They have two daughters.
El-Sayed Political Journey and South Asian Support
El-Sayed was born in southeast Michigan to an Egyptian immigrant father. He graduated from the University of Michigan, became a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford and earned a medical degree from Columbia University.
In 2015, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan appointed him the city’s health director. His initiatives included providing free glasses to schoolchildren, removing lead from schools and expanding access to the overdose drug Narcan.
He resigned in 2017 to contest the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary, which he lost to Gretchen Whitmer. He later worked as a CNN commentator and podcast host.
From 2022 to April 2025, he led Wayne County’s health, human and veterans services department. During his tenure, he launched a programme to cancel up to $700 million in medical debt for around 300,000 residents.
El-Sayed won the Democratic Senate primary against Congresswoman Haley Stevens in August. Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib supported his campaign.
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South Asian organisations also backed him during the final campaign week. An October 30 Diwali rally in Westland, Michigan, brought together Indian American leaders and political representatives.
His campaign also faced criticism from Republican leaders and President Donald Trump. Trump called him a “jihadist”, an accusation El-Sayed rejected.
In his victory speech, El-Sayed said he loved America and declared that Michigan had chosen hope over hate.
His key political positions include Medicare for All and an immediate arms embargo on Israel. He has also expressed interest in serving on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
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