Democratic Rep.
Haley Stevens of Michigan has endorsed Republican Mike Rogers for the U.S. Senate, turning on her own party's nominee, Abdul El-Sayed, in the closing days before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
Stevens, who lost to El-Sayed in the Democratic primary, announced the endorsement in a video posted to social media on Nov. 1. "As you may have seen, our Democratic nominee for US Senate Abdul said that I was no longer welcome in his campaign and that I should stay away, and he's right, and that's why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States Senate today," she said.
Stevens also criticized El-Sayed over his ties to left-wing streamer Hasan Piker, saying that rhetoric does not represent Michigan voters. "I don't belong in Abdul's campaign. I do not stand with Hasan Piker, who gets trafficked on our college campuses," she said.
"A dear friend of mine earlier today was saying that education is on the ballot, and she's absolutely right," Stevens continued. "And what our students see, what our children see, and who we are as Michiganders is not hate, and is not what we are getting out from our Democratic nominee right now."
Before the announcement, Stevens appeared with Rogers at a Detroit church after she was disinvited from a planned church event with El-Sayed. She had been asked to stay away from El-Sayed's remaining campaign events amid an ongoing dispute between the two.
Stevens had pressed El-Sayed to condemn an ad from an outside group that linked U.S. military support for Israel to rising grocery prices, an ad she called antisemitic. El-Sayed responded by accusing her of "relitigating a primary that ended three months ago."
Rogers had defended Stevens for calling on El-Sayed to denounce the ad, describing her as a "courageous leader who deserves the respect of every Michigan voter." "She has conducted herself with nothing but class since the Democratic primary, a primary where a majority of voters did not vote for her party's nominee," Rogers said.
At a press conference alongside Rogers, Stevens called herself a "proud Democrat" but said she was backing him after El-Sayed made clear she was "not welcome" in his campaign. "At some point, you gotta look at who's standing for country," she said.
The endorsement prompted some resignations among Stevens' Capitol Hill staff, The Hill reported. Those departures are largely symbolic, since Stevens' House term ends in January.
The move raises the stakes in an already tight race for Michigan's open Senate seat. Stevens drew stronger support than El-Sayed among Black and working-class liberal voters during the primary, and her backing of Rogers could deepen El-Sayed's problems with those communities.
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