Michigan Democratic Rep.
Haley Stevens fired back at critics in her own party in a nearly 900-word statement defending her decision to drop her endorsement of Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed and back Republican Mike Rogers, according to The Western Journal.
Stevens posted the statement to social media a day after announcing her endorsement of Rogers. "Instead of asking why a lifelong Democrat reached this point, some leaders rushed to condemn me, question my motives, and push me out," she wrote, adding, "That response reveals something deeply troubling about what is missing in today's Democratic Party."
"We cannot preach inclusion while punishing dissent," Stevens continued. "Loyalty to a party should never require abandoning your values or judgment," she added.
The statement came after Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Curtis Hertel announced that Stevens is no longer a member of the party. "Congresswoman Stevens is not a current member of the Michigan Democratic Party, nor will she be in the future," Hertel posted on X.
In later remarks to journalist Sam Robinson, Hertel accused Stevens of having "sour grapes" over losing the Democratic Senate primary to El-Sayed. "The people of Michigan are betrayed. The people that support her are betrayed," he said, adding that "Mike Rogers will be a rubber stamp for Donald Trump."
In her statement, Stevens defended her Democratic credentials. "I am a proud Democrat and believe in a woman's right to choose, in organized labor, in opportunity for working families, and in making government work for ordinary people," she wrote, adding, "None of that has changed."
Stevens said she endorsed El-Sayed after losing the primary and "put the party first," but was then "shut out." "There was little effort to listen to the voters who supported me or bridge the real disagreements our primary had exposed," she wrote.
She pointed to an ad run by an independent group supporting El-Sayed that linked the cost of living to U.S. support for Israel, which she has condemned as antisemitic. "Reasonable people can disagree about Israel, Gaza, and American foreign policy," Stevens wrote, "but blaming Israel for the price of eggs and elevating Tucker Carlson are not the way to build trust or bring people together."
El-Sayed has said his campaign had no involvement in producing the ad and that he disagreed with its content. Stevens wrote that "once I concluded that Abdul El-Sayed is not fit to serve in the United States Senate, I had to confront who should."
"I chose Mike Rogers, with the hope that he can serve in the tradition of John McCain: a senator willing to put country before party and stand up to his own side when conscience requires it," she wrote. Stevens closed by saying she still believes "in the promise of the Democratic Party," but that it "will require something more than loyalty tests and demands for blind obedience."
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