Dubai relatives celebrated after CBS News projected Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, husband of Dr. Sarah Jukaku, to win Michigan’s Senate race and become the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate, Gulf News reported.
CBS News projected on Nov. 4 that El-Sayed defeated former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers in the Nov. 3 election. The result would make El-Sayed the first Muslim elected to the Senate, CBS News said. Gulf News described him as 42, a Democrat and a former public health official.
Fazal Jukaku, Sarah Jukaku’s uncle, told Gulf News that relatives and friends had sent congratulatory calls and messages. “We are ecstatic,” he said. He added that the family was eager to watch El-Sayed take the oath of office.
Fazal said relatives in the UAE, India and the United States followed the campaign. Some family members in the United States helped with fundraising and other campaign work, according to Gulf News.
Gulf News reported that Sarah Jukaku’s father’s family comes from Bhatkal, a coastal town in Karnataka, India. Fazal said El-Sayed had visited the town twice and stayed with relatives. Jailani Mohtisham, a family friend, told Gulf News that UAE residents with roots in Bhatkal also followed the race.
Gulf News reported that Sarah and El-Sayed met as undergraduates at the University of Michigan, married in 2006 and have two daughters. EconoTimes previously reported on El-Sayed’s projected victory in Michigan.
