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How did Mohamed Morsi win Egypt’s 2012 presidential election?

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Founder of the Muslim Brotherood — Muslim Brotherhood Hassan al-Banna, a schoolteacher in Ismailia, Egypt, founded the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928 as an attempt to modernize Islamic society.

Mohamed Morsi won Egypt’s 2012 presidential election by leveraging the organizational strength of the Muslim Brotherhood and its political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party.1

Following the 2011 revolution, the Muslim Brotherhood emerged as the country’s most organized political faction after the dissolution of the former ruling party. The group initially stated it would not field a presidential candidate, but it reversed this position and nominated Morsi to run in the May 2012 election.1

Morsi advanced to a runoff against Ahmed Shafiq, a former prime minister under the Mubarak administration. Despite a series of legal and procedural challenges—including a Supreme Constitutional Court ruling that dissolved the Islamist-led parliament just days before the runoff—Morsi secured victory in the election held in June 2012. His win was solidified by the support of a base that favored the Brotherhood’s established political infrastructure over the remnants of the previous regime.12