Haley Stevens Endorses Republican Mike Rogers Two Days Before Michigan's Senate Vote

DETROIT — Rep. Haley Stevens, a Michigan Democrat, endorsed Republican Mike Rogers for the U.S. Senate on Sunday, less than 48 hours before Election Day, after weeks of open conflict with her own party's nominee, Abdul El-Sayed.

"As you may have seen, our Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, Abdul, said I was no longer welcome in his campaign and that I should stay away, and he's right," Stevens said in a video posted to social media. "And that's why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the U.S. Senate today." Her statement followed a surprise appearance with Rogers at a church in Detroit.

Stevens lost the Democratic primary to El-Sayed in August by about a single point. Since then she had said she supported the Democratic ticket, but relations between the two had been publicly falling apart for weeks. Stevens said El-Sayed had not done enough to reassure Jewish and Black voters who backed her in the primary. She also said she does "not stand with Hasan Piker," a streamer who campaigned with El-Sayed during the primary. In August, after Piker implied that Jews' support for Israel puts them at risk of personal violence, El-Sayed distanced himself from the controversy but stopped short of disavowing Piker.

Tensions sharpened after Stevens' fiance, Jason Turkish, said he planned to vote for Rogers. In a later TV appearance, Stevens maintained she was still planning to support the Democratic nominee. She urged El-Sayed to denounce a recent ad by Cenk Uygur, of The Young Turks, that blamed Israel for high grocery prices in the United States. In the ad, she wrote, Michigan families are told they cannot afford groceries because their money has to be set aside "for killing Palestinians." El-Sayed's campaign said he had nothing to do with the ad and criticized its contents on Saturday.

On Friday, Stevens set a condition for joining a unity event with El-Sayed and Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., at a Detroit church on Sunday. She wanted El-Sayed to reject the ad and apologize for rhetoric she considered inflammatory and offensive. The event went ahead without her.

Outside a "Souls to the Polls" event at a Detroit church, El-Sayed told reporters he does not think about Stevens and that voters do not either. "None of this matters," he said. He pointed to families worried about school lunches and medical bills.

The reaction from Democrats was swift and angry. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called the endorsement a "despicable betrayal." Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel said in a statement that Rogers has repeatedly sold out Michigan's working class, wants to pass a national abortion ban and has pledged to be a loyal vote for Trump's agenda. Hertel said Stevens had abandoned everything she claims to care about. Stevens' communications director has an email auto-reply saying that as of Sunday he is no longer working for her office, and several former campaign staffers criticized their former boss on social media.

The clash exposes a wider rift inside the Democratic Party over Israel and the rhetoric surrounding it. NPR reported that the split is likely to last well past Election Day and will be something the party has to reckon with as it prepares for the 2028 presidential nominating process. For now, it hands Rogers a high-profile Democratic endorsement in one of the most closely watched Senate races of the cycle, with polls set to open Tuesday.