Judy and Jan Johnson told ABC News Live on Friday that they were always proud of their grandson, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, ever since he entered their lives as a child.
And now they said they are ecstatic that he will be making history as the first Muslim American U.S. senator after he won the race for the Michigan seat Tuesday.
Jan and Judy Johnson, the grandparents of Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, listen as he speaks to supporters at Eastern Michigan University, Nov. 2, 2026, in Ypsilanti, Mich.
Salwan Georges/Getty Images
“He’s the same now as he was then. Very energetic, very intelligent, very verbal, and really wants to help people,” Judy Johnson told ABC News Live.
El-Sayed’s father married their daughter Jackie when Abdul El-Sayed was 4 and the Johnsons said they quickly welcomed them into the family.
“I felt like he came into my heart. From the very beginning I just felt good,” Jan Johnson recalled.
Judy Johnson described El-Sayed as “a challenge” as a child, just like their daughter Jackie, but said that their grandson was always respectful of his elders and became “more self-disciplined.”
El-Sayed lived with his grandparents while he attended the University of Michigan for college and Judy recollected how she and her husband would help their grandson from everything to providing feedback on his papers to reminding him to do his laundry.
That assistance continued, especially on the campaign trail where they appeared in an ad talking about El-Sayed and his upbringing.
Judy Johnson said that El-Sayed called her every week on the campaign trail and they attended his campaign election night party.
When asked about the attacks against their grandson over his Muslim faith by opponents, Judy Johnson said she and her husband “tried not to watch all of those negative things.”
“We tried to be positive during the campaign,” Johnson, who along with her husband is a Presbyterian deacon.
Democratic candidate for US Senate, Abdul El-Sayed, poses for a picture with a supporter as he visits a polling site during the US midterm elections, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, November 3, 2026.
Dieu-nalio Chery/Reuters
As for the future, the Johnsons said they are looking forward to Thanksgiving, which they said is very important in their household, with El-Sayed and the rest of their family.
El-Sayed has been hosting the family for years, according to the Johnsons.
“Everybody in our family celebrates Thanksgiving and we all get together and have a good time and everybody contributes to the meal,” Judy Johnson said.
