Ilhan Omar

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) said eight Muslims would serve in the next Congress as she congratulated Michigan Democrat Abdulrahman El-Sayed on his victory over Republican Mike Rogers in Tuesday’s U.S. Senate election.

“Congratulations, Abdul El-Sayed,” Omar wrote. “You turned that inshallah into alhamdulillah.”

Inshallah means “God willing” in Arabic, while alhamdulillah means “praise be to God.” Omar then took a swipe at those she said had doubted them, though she did not name anyone specifically.

“I am overwhelmed with gratitude knowing that we will now have 8 Muslims serving in Congress,” Omar added. “They told us we couldn’t speak up, couldn’t challenge the status quo, and couldn’t make it this far. But we did. Alhamdulillah.”

The Associated Press (AP) called the Michigan Senate race at 2:27 a.m. ET Wednesday. By 5:23 p.m. ET, El-Sayed had 52.5 percent of the vote to Rogers’ 45.5 percent, with about 98 percent counted, according to AP results. The win keeps retiring Sen. Gary Peters’ seat in Democrat hands in a state President Donald Trump carried in 2024.

El-Sayed defeated Rep. Haley Stevens in the August Democratic primary with backing from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). He called for a government-run health insurance system and described Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide.

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