El-Sayed Launches Habibi PAC After Michigan Senate Win

Michigan Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed registered a leadership political action committee called Habibi PAC in a Federal Election Commission filing dated Thursday, according to Al Jazeera. The filing came days after El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers to become the first Muslim member of the US Senate.

What is Habibi PAC and when was it filed?

The FEC record lists Habibi PAC as a leadership PAC sponsored by El-Sayed, a designation that keeps the committee legally separate from his own campaign account, Al Jazeera reported. Leadership PACs let sitting or incoming lawmakers raise and spend money to support other candidates, a function distinct from financing their own races.

How do leadership PACs function, and what is the scale of the money involved?

According to OpenSecrets, cited by Al Jazeera, lawmakers use leadership PACs to build influence with colleagues and to strengthen bids for leadership posts or committee chairmanships by directing contributions to other members, party committees and allied political organizations. OpenSecrets estimated that leadership PACs gave $79.3 million to federal candidates during the 2024 election cycle. Most of that total went to Republican candidates, Al Jazeera reported, though a single Democratic leadership PAC was the largest individual donor in that cycle. The figures describe a prior election cycle and do not establish how much Habibi PAC itself will raise or spend.

Who else has launched a leadership PAC since Tuesday's vote?

El-Sayed is one of several newly elected Democrats who filed leadership PAC paperwork in the days after the midterm election, per FEC records reviewed by Al Jazeera. Arizona Congressman-elect Amish Shah registered a committee called PACStreet Boy. Iowa Senator-elect Josh Turek filed for WheelPAC. North Carolina Senator-elect Roy Cooper registered One NC PAC.

Why did El-Sayed choose the name "Habibi"?

Habibi is an Arabic term of endearment meaning "my dear" or "my beloved," a word El-Sayed used repeatedly during the campaign, including in his victory speech in Detroit. Addressing Vice President JD Vance, El-Sayed said:

"JD, habibi, there is this delicious irony in the fact that you're constitutionally obligated to swear me in in January."

What did El-Sayed say about money in politics?

El-Sayed, the son of Egyptian immigrants, ran a campaign in which President Trump, Vance and Senator Ted Cruz questioned his loyalty, called him a "jihadist" and sought to link him to the Muslim Brotherhood movement without providing evidence, Al Jazeera reported. Speaking to Al Jazeera at a rally in Wyandotte, Michigan, before the vote, El-Sayed said taxpayer money should fund domestic priorities rather than go to foreign governments he said were committing genocide or apartheid. In his victory speech, he said the result showed that in a contest between money and the many, "the many can win." Getting money out of politics was one of his central campaign pledges, according to Al Jazeera, a claim the new PAC's critics may test as fundraising begins.