Democratic U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens has endorsed Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers in Michigan’s race for the U.S. Senate against Democratic nominee Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, she said Sunday – a stunning move after Stevens had previously said she would support El-Sayed.
“Hey Michigan, as you may have seen, our Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, Abdul, said that I was no longer welcome in his campaign and that I should stay away. And he’s right, and that’s why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States Senate today. I don’t belong in Abdul’s campaign,” Stevens said in part in a video posted on social media on Sunday.
El-Sayed and Stevens faced off in an acrimonious primary, but had seemingly mended fences afterward. However, in recent days a new dispute spilled out into the open after Stevens had asked El-Sayed to disavow an ad from an outside group that she said was antisemitic. Stevens’ fiancé, Jason Turkish, has also said he plans to vote for Mike Rogers, and attended an event with Mike Rogers and Sen. Ted Cruz last week.
In a joint press conference after the endorsement, Stevens defended the decision as one that is right for Michigan, adding that it was about standing “with country.”
Stevens said that “90% of the votes I’m going to cast are going to be for Democrats. My vote for Senate, I am just one vote, as is every Michigander. My vote for Senate is going to be with Mike Rogers. And I will tell you why. Because we have to stand with country.”
She said El-Sayed boxed her out of his campaign. “I did endorse the Democratic nominee, and he chose to close his campaign by saying I wasn’t welcome… This is about looking in the mirror about how real Democrats for Rogers are.”
Stevens also attended a Black church service on Sunday in Detroit with Rogers. A Rogers campaign representative posted a photo on X Sunday morning of Stevens and Rogers standing side-by-side at the service.
As recently as last week, Stevens told CNN that she would vote for El-Sayed, saying “Of course I’m voting, you know, for our Democratic nominee for Senate. I’m voting for the Democratic ticket.”
El-Sayed attended a Black church service at a different church in Detroit on Sunday. Stevens had been previously expected to appear with him, but the joint appearance was thrown into doubt after the newfound dispute broke out into the open.
“At the end of the day, I actually don’t think about Haley Stevens,” El-Sayed said of her endorsement Sunday in remarks to the press after the service, alongside Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C), who attended the service with him.
“So I have a sense that you all are here today because of the decisions of somebody who’s not here right now. Am I right about that?” El-Sayed said. “But I’m just going to tell you, this is a state of 10 million people who deserve a lot better from the government. I’m a lot more focused on the 9,999,998 that are not the ones you guys are talking about,” he went on, bringing up gas prices, grocery costs, and air and water quality as examples of issues Michigan voters are dealing with.
President Donald Trump lavished praise on Stevens in a social media post Sunday for endorsing Rogers, saying in part that Stevens showed “great and almost unprecedented loyalty” to Michigan in doing so.
But Stevens’ fellow Democrats were swift to condemn her endorsement.
“This is a despicable betrayal from Rep. Stevens,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York wrote in a post on X. “Senate Democrats are united in our support for Abdul El-Sayed, because we know he will fight for the economic interests of working families in Michigan, unlike Mike Rogers, who is a tool of Donald Trump and billionaire donors.”
“We are dismayed that Congresswoman Haley Stevens has revealed herself to be a sellout who used Black Michiganders for a political stunt,” Democratic National Committee Black Caucus Chair Virgie Rollins said in a statement released by the Michigan Democratic Party. “Congresswoman Stevens has lost her way, and Michiganders know that Mike Rogers is a shill for Trump and has failed Michigan. We are ready to elect Abdul on Tuesday.”
“Michiganders … want leaders focused on making their lives more affordable. That’s what they’re talking about, not Congresswoman Stevens’ continued efforts to get attention,” Michigan Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell wrote in a statement on X, adding, “we must stay focused on electing Democrats up and down the ballot, and that includes electing Abdul El-Sayed as Michigan’s next Senator.”
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