Abdul El-Sayed

Ann Arbor, Oriel College and the Columbia MD/PhD Program

El-Sayed studied at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and left with a bachelor's degree with highest distinction, a double major in biology and political science, according to the Columbia profile; the Soros page lists the degree as a BS in biology. STAT reports that he gave the student commencement speech at Michigan in 2007.

He went to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, based at Oriel College and the Nuffield Department of Population Health, and wrote a doctoral thesis on obesity inequalities in England. The Soros fellowship, which he received in 2012, lists his DPhil as being in public health. Back in New York he did postdoctoral research in epidemiology under Sandro Galea, then entered the MD/PhD program at Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons. In 2014 he became an assistant professor in the epidemiology department of the Mailman School of Public Health.

He did not go on to a residency. STAT reported that he decided against one after a patient case at NewYork-Presbyterian. His Senate financial disclosure lists him as a member of the Vagelos College alumni board since August 2023.

Rebuilding the Detroit Health Department From Five People

Detroit had privatized its health department in 2012, and at its low point the department was down to five people, according to STAT. In August 2015 Mayor Mike Duggan hired El-Sayed, then 31, as its executive director. STAT, which profiled him in May 2016, summarized the mandate in two words: "Rebuild it."

The records cited here do not state when he left the Detroit post.

The 2018 Primary, Three Books and a Crooked Media Podcast

In 2018 El-Sayed ran for governor of Michigan as a progressive in the Democratic primary, which Gretchen Whitmer won, as the Detroit Free Press recalled in 2025.

His Senate disclosure, filed in July 2026, lists the publishing agreements behind his three books rather than publication dates: "Systems Science and Population Health" with Oxford University Press USA, agreed in May 2015; "Medicare for All", also with Oxford University Press USA, agreed in February 2019; and "Healing Politics" with Harry N. Abrams, agreed the same month. The same filing records him as host and executive producer for Crooked Media from September 2019 to April 2024, and as owner since September 2022 of Incision Media LLC in Detroit, which produces his audio and video.

The filing also lists academic posts in those years: scholar in residence at Wayne State University, in criminal justice, from February 2019 to April 2025, and at American University's School of Public Affairs from January 2019 to April 2025; visiting scholar at Harvard's FXB Center from February 2021 onward; and an employee and visiting scholar at the University of Michigan's Ford School of Public Policy from August 2021 to April 2025.

Wayne County's Health Department and the Resignation of April 2025

In March 2023 Wayne County Executive Warren Evans appointed El-Sayed to run the county's Department of Health, Human and Veterans Services. His last day was April 3, 2025. The Detroit Free Press reported that he resigned "in consideration of exploring a Senate future". The Senate disclosure lists him as an employee of the county from March 2023 to April 2025 and as a consultant to it from April 2025 onward, and gives April 17, 2025 as the date his candidacy commenced.

The August 4, 2026 Primary Against Haley Stevens

Michigan's Democratic primary for the US Senate was held on August 4, 2026. El-Sayed's main opponent was Haley Stevens, a four-term member of the House who had the backing of Whitmer, Peters and Stabenow, according to Fox 2 Detroit. Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez campaigned for El-Sayed, Fox 2 reported, and he ran on a progressive platform that included Medicare for All.

The Associated Press called the race for El-Sayed just before 10 a.m. on August 5, Fox 2 reported. With 96 percent of the vote counted he led Stevens 48.5 percent to 47.5 percent, according to Fox 2 Detroit and Bloomberg Government; Bloomberg Government put McMorrow, whose campaign had been suspended, at 4 percent. Stevens pledged her support to him after the result, per Fox 2. Bloomberg Government's report placed the win within the progressive wing of the party.

Mike Rogers, a YouGov Poll and the November 3 Ballot

The general election is on November 3, 2026. The Republican nominee is Mike Rogers, a former congressman who was unopposed in his party's primary, according to Fox 2 Detroit.

One named poll is cited here. A YouGov survey of likely voters, reported by Political Wire on October 6, 2026, had El-Sayed at 49 percent and Rogers at 48 percent with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 points, a gap inside the margin.

What the Senate Candidate Disclosure Shows

There is no single net worth figure in this article, and the sidebar carries none. Senate candidates report their finances on a form that gives each asset and debt as a value band rather than a number, so the honest answer is a range. El-Sayed's candidate report was filed with the Senate on July 27, 2026, and covers assets held by him, by his wife and by the two of them jointly. Fox News, which reported on the filing, said it was released on July 29.

Two outlets read the same bands and reached different floors. Fox News said the couple hold assets worth up to $2.1 million and put their net worth between $870,000 and $2.1 million. Bridge Michigan put it at likely between $700,000 and $2.1 million. The ceilings match; the floors do not, and neither outlet's arithmetic is reproduced here.

The largest single items are real estate. A condominium in Ann Arbor, held jointly and rented out, is listed at $250,001 to $500,000 with rental income of $15,001 to $50,000, against a 2008 mortgage of $50,001 to $100,000 at a fixed 6.75 percent over 30 years. His wife holds a rental condominium in Bangalore at $100,001 to $250,000 and a single-family rental home in Dubai in the same band, each producing $5,001 to $15,000 a year; the Dubai property carries a balance of $50,001 to $100,000 owed to the developer, Majid Al Futtaim Tilal Al Ghaf Phase A LLC. Bridge Michigan reported that he told reporters the foreign rentals came from his wife's family inheritance. Retirement accounts at Schwab are invested in Amana funds, with the largest of his own, a SEP-IRA in AMIGX, at $50,001 to $100,000 and a spouse IRA in the same fund at $100,001 to $250,000. His consulting and speaking company, AME Higher LLC, is valued at $50,001 to $100,000, and Incision Media LLC at $1,001 to $15,000.

The income section is in dollars, not bands. For 2025 it lists a Wayne County salary of $82,749.48 and $72,000 in consulting fees from the county, a salary of $64,000 and a member draw of $103,000 from AME Higher, $82,000 in consulting from One Health Management, royalties of $1,117.53 from Oxford University Press for "Medicare for All", and three speaking fees: $1,500 from Brown University, $1,000 from Corewell Health and $750 from the University of Michigan. His wife, named in the Columbia profile as Sarah Jukaku, a 2015 Columbia alumna who was then in a psychiatry residency, reports a member draw from Mind Work Psychiatry LLC in Ann Arbor.

Bridge Michigan also saw the couple's 2025 federal tax return, released the same month: $686,069 in income, made up of $130,749 in wages, $262,299 in capital gains and $292,881 in other income. Asked whether he is a millionaire, El-Sayed said: "I guess they add up to something like that."

Fox News reported that the filing came shortly before a primary debate at which Stevens questioned him about tax returns he had not released and about outside income, and that he answered that he had made the required disclosures.

Sources

• Abdul El-Sayed - Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans
• Alumni Profile: Abdul El-Sayed'14 | Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
• A native son brings Detroit's health department back to life
• El-Sayed leaving Wayne County health department as he eyes U.S. Senate bid
• United States Senate Financial Disclosures Candidate Report, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, filed 07/27/2026
• Abdul El-Sayed defeats Haley Stevens in Democratic Senate primary race | FOX 2 Detroit
• El-Sayed Fuels Progressive Momentum With Michigan Primary Win
• Abdul El-Sayed Holds Edge in Michigan Senate Race
• Abdul El-Sayed discloses Dubai property before Michigan primary debate | Fox News
• Fact checks: Abdul El-Sayed record on misogyny, defund the police, Kamala Harris - Bridge Michigan