3 minPolitics
Haley Stevens endorses Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan Senate race
Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens, who lost the August primary to Abdul El-Sayed, has publicly backed Republican Mike Rogers two days before the Michigan Senate election.
Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens has endorsed Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers in Michigan, two days before the election, a striking break with her own party in one of the most closely watched races in the country. Stevens appeared alongside Rogers at a church service in Detroit on Sunday, an unusual scene in a contest already roiled by Democratic infighting. The remarkable show of support for Rogers, a candidate backed by President Donald Trump, comes in a tightly contested race.
The appearance followed a series of events that exposed deep divisions among Michigan Democrats. Stevens was disinvited from a planned church event with Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, the man who narrowly defeated her in the August primary by a slim margin. The reversal left Stevens at the same church as Rogers, El-Sayed's Republican opponent. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., who helped organize the planned joint appearance, said Stevens was asked to skip it after the dispute became a distraction and upset the church's bishop. El-Sayed's campaign also asked Stevens to stay away from its remaining events.
The rift has centered on an outside group's advertisement linking U.S. support for Israel to higher grocery prices. Stevens has pressed El-Sayed to condemn the ad, which she called antisemitic. El-Sayed said the ad was not produced by his campaign and that he disagreed with its contents. Stevens had endorsed El-Sayed soon after he beat her in the primary, but she has since withdrawn that support, a reversal that has been reported as a step she took to back Rogers in the general election.
The dispute has also drawn sharp reactions from within the party. Stevens has been criticized by fellow Democrats for refusing to explicitly back El-Sayed, and a former rival has declined to offer El-Sayed a full-throated endorsement following a bitter Senate primary. These tensions have carried over from the primary into the general election, leaving the Democratic nominee to campaign without the unified backing that party leaders would normally hope to see at this stage.
Stevens's fiancé, Jason Turkish, has previously endorsed Rogers and appeared at a Rogers campaign event, saying he could not support El-Sayed because of the nominee's positions on Israel. The family connection adds another dimension to the shift in Stevens's position. The Michigan Senate contest is close, and the outcome could help determine which party controls the chamber, which is why the Stevens endorsement has drawn national attention just days before voters go to the polls.
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