3 minPolitics
El-Sayed raises record $2.4 million in one day after Stevens backs Rogers
Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed says his Michigan campaign raised more than $2.4 million in a single day, a record for the race, after Rep. Haley Stevens endorsed Republican Mike Rogers.
Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed's campaign says it raised more than $2.4 million in a single day, a fundraising record in the final stretch of the Michigan Senate race. The haul came on Sunday from more than 65,000 donors, who gave an average of $36.74 each, according to the campaign.
The surge followed an endorsement from Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., who on Sunday backed Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers, the Trump-backed candidate in the contest. Stevens had lost her Democratic primary to El-Sayed earlier this year, and the two had spent months in open tension. Nearly 29,600 people contributed to the El-Sayed campaign for the first time, the campaign said.
«As Michiganders head to the polls, the momentum behind Abdul's campaign has never been stronger,» campaign spokesperson Cole Wozniak said in a statement following the final-hour fundraising total.
Stevens, who was seen as the more moderate establishment candidate in the primary, said in a video posted to social media that she remains «a very proud Democrat» who loves Michigan. She said she could not support El-Sayed, pointing to his backing from Hasan Piker, a left-wing political streamer. In the video, Stevens said El-Sayed had told her she was no longer welcome in his campaign and should stay away, adding that «he's right» and that this was why she was endorsing Rogers for the Senate.
The endorsement drew swift condemnation from fellow Democrats. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called it «a despicable betrayal» and said the Democratic caucus in the upper chamber remains united behind El-Sayed. Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel said Stevens had «abandoned everything she claims to care about.»
El-Sayed brushed off the endorsement on Sunday, telling reporters he does not think about Stevens or Rogers and is focused on voters and policy. He has also sought in recent months to distance himself from Piker as the streamer's national profile has grown and his controversial statements have drawn increased scrutiny, including antisemitic remarks and a claim that «America deserved 9/11.»
The fundraising figures and the endorsement landed in the final days before Michigan voters head to the polls, a closing stretch that has drawn national attention to the race. The campaign's reported total, which it characterized as a single-day record, is its own figure and has not been independently verified.
Source: foxnews.com
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