In brief
Ahmed El‑Sayed, a 37‑year‑old teacher from Detroit’s north side, was sworn in on Tuesday as a new member of the Michigan Legislature, becoming the first Arab‑born lawmaker in the United States. His victory, unseating a long‑time incumbent in District 11, prompted jubilant celebrations in Dearborn and other Arab‑American strongholds, while the Arabic term “habibi” surged in tweets, Instagram videos, and Google searches. The win signals a growing influence of diaspora communities in American politics.
Ahmed El‑Sayed, a first‑generation Egyptian immigrant, was sworn in on Tuesday as a new member of the Michigan Legislature, becoming the first Arab‑born lawmaker in the United States. The ceremony took place in Lansing, where he unseated the long‑time incumbent in District 11 and entered the chamber amid cheers from residents of Dearborn, Detroit’s Arab‑American heartland, and a delegation of leaders flown in from the Middle East.
El‑Sayed was 37 years old and previously worked as a teacher on Detroit’s north side. He has spent the campaign season building on his background as a community organizer, promising to tackle education inequality, criminal‑justice reform, and support for small businesses in minority neighborhoods. According to the Michigan Secretary of State’s office, the election turnout was 58% among the white‑born population, down 3 percentage points from 2022, but up 12% among voters who identified as the child of immigrant parents. The top three precincts with the highest immigrant‑seeded votes were in Dearborn, Southfield, and Livonia.
The moment was described by El‑Sayed as “so meaningful” for his community. He told reporters, “When you talk to my students, I call them ‘habibi’—my dear—so I am showing them love and respect. To be able to officially serve the people of Michigan with that spirit is a dream come true.”
When you talk to my students, I call them ‘habibi’—my dear—so I am showing them love and respect. To be able to officially serve the people of Michigan with that spirit is a dream come true.
After his swearing‑in, El‑Sayed’s campaign team posted a video on Instagram showing crowds chanting “Habibi, habibi” in unison. The Arabic word, meaning ‘my beloved’, spread across social‑media platforms in the weeks leading up to the election. More than 120,000 tweets used the hashtag ‘#Habibi’, and Google Trends recorded a sharp rise in usage in the United States following the announcement of his win.
Political analysts said the election may signal a shift in power dynamics for the Democratic Party, especially in leveraging diaspora communities. Americans with roots in the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia grew from 3.1% to 4.4% of the electorate, according to the Pew Research Center. In his opening speech, El‑Sayed addressed the role of diaspora communities, saying, “We come with our stories, our hopes, and our unique perspectives. We want to speak in a language that acknowledges our human nature – not a language of division.”
We come with our stories, our hopes, and our unique perspectives. We want to speak in a language that acknowledges our human nature – not a language of division.
The cheering at his swearing‑in was joined by volunteers from Dearborn and other Arab‑American neighborhoods who had traveled to Lansing for the historic moment. The celebrations underscored a broader trend of growing political engagement among immigrant communities in the United States. The entry of the term ‘habibi’ into everyday American political discourse also illustrates how linguistic elements from diaspora cultures can rapidly integrate into mainstream communication when tied to a milestone election victory.
