El-Sayed Registers Habibi PAC After Senate Win

Michigan Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed has registered Habibi PAC, a leadership political action committee, days after winning the state’s U.S. Senate race. A Federal Election Commission filing dated November 6 lists El-Sayed as the committee’s sponsor and identifies it as separate from his campaign committee.

Leadership PACs can raise and spend money to support other candidates and political committees, rather than fund their founders’ own campaigns. OpenSecrets says such committees can help lawmakers build relationships with colleagues and strengthen bids for party leadership posts. The filing establishes Habibi PAC’s registration, but does not show how much it will raise or which candidates it will support.

The committee’s name comes from “habibi,” an Arabic term of endearment meaning “my dear” or “my beloved.” El-Sayed used the word during his campaign and in his victory speech, when he addressed Vice President JD Vance, who will preside over the Senate swearing-in. El-Sayed said Vance was constitutionally obligated to swear him in in January.

El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan’s Senate race and is set to become the first Muslim member of the U.S. Senate. Several...