Whitmer Endorses Haley Stevens 11 Days Before Michigan's Senate Primary

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer waded into her state's bitter Democratic Senate primary on Friday, endorsing Rep. Haley Stevens over former public health official Abdul El-Sayed just 11 days before voters decide the race.

"As governor, I've had one strategy: get things done. And that strategy informs everything that I do, and that's why I'm endorsing Haley Stevens for the U.S. Senate," Whitmer said in a video that Stevens posted on X. "Just like me, Haley will do whatever it takes to get things done for the people of Michigan, and we need her now more than ever."

The timing is unusually late. Voting by mail is already underway, early in-person voting begins Saturday, and hundreds of thousands of Michiganders have already cast ballots ahead of the Aug. 4 primary — a fact that could blunt the endorsement's effect. Whitmer moved quickly to the trail regardless, appearing with Stevens and Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina at an evening event in Detroit.

The race is close. A Detroit News and WDIV-TV poll of 500 likely Democratic primary voters conducted this month found 34% saying they would "definitely" support Stevens and 34% saying the same about El-Sayed. The same survey found that half of undecided voters said a Whitmer endorsement would make them more likely to back a candidate. Whitmer, blocked by term limits from seeking a third term, had a 52% job approval rating in a May poll by the Detroit Regional Chamber.

El-Sayed's campaign cast the move as the party establishment closing ranks. "The corporate establishment has closed ranks and made their pick — now, Michigan voters will get to make theirs," said spokesperson Roxie Richner. El-Sayed, running on a left-wing platform that attacks Stevens' support for Israel and her donor network, has endorsements from Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who rallied for him across the state last weekend. "With all due respect to Congresswoman Stevens, everyone knows that this is not an election between her and Abdul El-Sayed," Sanders said. "This is an election between Abdul and the billionaire class."

Whitmer and El-Sayed have history: she defeated him in the 2018 Democratic primary for governor, then offered him a post in her administration, which he declined. A person familiar with the governor's thinking said the endorsement was driven by support for Stevens rather than opposition to El-Sayed, and that Whitmer "has a lot of respect for Abdul and his supporters."

Stevens already had backing from retiring Sen. Gary Peters, Attorney General Dana Nessel and former Sen. Debbie Stabenow, none of which broke the race open. The winner faces former Rep. Mike Rogers, unopposed for the Republican nomination, in a general election Democrats consider a must-win in their fight for the Senate majority.