DETROIT — Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed’s former opponent in the U.S. Senate primary, Rep. Haley Stevens, stunned party officials Sunday by endorsing his Republican rival, Mike Rogers, after Democratic tensions boiled over days before the election that could determine the balance of power on Capitol Hill.
Stevens endorsed Rogers after attending a Detroit church service with him. The remarkable show of support for the President Trump-backed candidate in the tightly contested race comes after she was uninvited to a joint event the same day with El-Sayed, who defeated the congresswoman by a slim margin in the August primary.
“Our Democratic nominee for Senate said I was no longer welcome in his campaign and that I should stay away,” Stevens said in a video announcing the endorsement. “And he’s right. And that’s why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States Senate today.”
El-Sayed dismissed the endorsement when asked about it by reporters later Sunday, saying he’s focused on issues voters care about, such as the high cost of living.
“At the end of the day I actually don’t think about Haley Stevens,” he said, adding later: “None of this matters.”
Michigan Democratic leaders were left shocked. With just less than 48 hours to go before election day, a party that had spent months trying to unite behind its Senate nominee was suddenly grappling with an extraordinary defection in one of this year’s most important races.
Tensions between the two Democrats have festered since the primary. Stevens is a staunch supporter of Israel, while El-Sayed is a fierce critic of the U.S. ally. He has also been criticized by some in the community for past remarks regarding a Michigan synagogue attack and for appearances with controversial streamer Hasan Piker.
El-Sayed, a former Michigan public health official, is facing Rogers, an ex-congressman, for the seat held by the retiring Democrat, Gary Peters. Keeping Michigan in Democratic hands is vital to the party’s effort to win a majority for the final two years of Trump’s second term.
Stevens and El-Sayed were originally scheduled to attend church together, along with other Michigan and national Democrats, including South Carolina Rep. James E. Clyburn. Democrats hoped it would be a show of unity as they worked to boost turnout in the Detroit area, where concerns have lingered about enthusiasm among Black and Jewish voters in key Democratic strongholds.
Instead, Stevens swayed to gospel music alongside Rogers in the pews at Perfecting Church, while El-Sayed was a few miles away at a different house of worship campaigning alongside prominent Democrats, including Clyburn.
Stevens’ top aide resigns
After the church service north of Detroit, where Stevens and fiance Jason Turkish worshiped with Rogers and his wife, Kristi, the congresswoman told reporters, “I’m not turning my back on Democrats. It is this one vote.”
Rogers, standing beside her, said he was “honored” by her support.
Their appearance came days after Stevens publicly reaffirmed she would vote for El-Sayed. It also led her longtime chief of staff to resign, with a number of staff members expected to follow soon, according to a person familiar with the developments who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters.
“We are shocked and heartbroken,” the aide said in a statement.
The state party chair, Curtis Hertel, said Stevens’ endorsement “shows that she has abandoned everything she claims to care about.”
“We reject the attempts by Stevens and bad-faith actors to divide our party and undermine our momentum,” Hertel wrote, adding that they won’t let such eleventh-hour “distractions” deter the campaign. Hertel later wrote that Stevens “is not a current member of the Michigan Democratic Party, nor will she be in the future.”
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who supported Stevens in the primary, denounced her endorsement of Rogers.
“This is a despicable betrayal from Rep. Stevens,” Schumer, of New York, wrote in a social media post.
Dingell disinvited Stevens after it became ‘distracting’
Among the Democrats who joined El-Sayed at church Sunday morning were Rep. Debbie Dingell of Michigan, Sen. Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, who dropped out of the Senate primary before voting began.
Dingell, a senior Democratic figure in the state who helped organize the planned joint appearance, said she asked Stevens not to attend and that Stevens told her she would abide by that.
“I’m the one who pulled it because it had become way too distracting,” Dingell said a telephone interview Sunday before Stevens’ appearance with Rogers. “This is not how I was going to spend my weekend before the election, to be perfectly frank.”
In the August primary, Stevens defeated El-Sayed in Wayne County, which includes Detroit, and neighboring Oakland County, drawing support from Black and Jewish voters who are important parts of the Democratic coalition.
Early voting for Tuesday’s election has been underway since Oct. 24. As of Friday, more than 1.8 million people had already voted in Michigan.
How did we get here?
The Democratic primary was among the most bitter this year. Each candidate accused the other of making personal attacks. Tens of millions of dollars in outside spending poured into the race, including from the super PAC affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, known as AIPAC, which backed Stevens. El-Sayed took particular offense to an outside group’s ad accusing him of disrespecting women.
Although Stevens pledged after the primary to help El-Sayed however she could, the two have not appeared together publicly since a unity breakfast two days after his primary win.
Last week Stevens’ fiance told the Detroit News that he would vote for Rogers. Stevens later appeared on CNN to reaffirm her support for El-Sayed but urged his campaign to “shut out the hate and call it out.”
But on Friday, after the Associated Press reported on the planned joint appearance, Stevens released a lengthy statement calling on El-Sayed to condemn an ad by an independent left-wing group that linked U.S. support for Israel to high grocery prices.
“Abdul promises to get money out of politics,” Stevens wrote. “He can begin by getting Israel out of his explanation for everything Michigan cannot afford.”
El-Sayed then responded: “So while Congresswoman Stevens seems intent on relitigating a primary that ended three months ago, let’s all focus on the task at hand.”
He made clear the ad was not made by his campaign and said “I do not agree with the contents of that ad.”
The Michigan-born Democratic nominee, meanwhile, has been the frequent target of Islamophobic attacks, including from Trump. At a rally last weekend, Trump called El-Sayed a “jihadist,” adding: “He would be the only senator that will have to go through a metal detector before he’s allowed to go into the Senate.”
Trump and Republicans revel in the discord
Trump praised Stevens in a social media post, saying she was “a Highly Respected Democrat” and that her support from Black and Jewish voters in Michigan is “virtually unprecedented.”
“Haley said what few people are willing to say. She showed great and almost unprecedented loyalty to the Great People of Michigan with what she did,” Trump wrote. “It’s a thing called bravery, and few people have it like just displayed by Congresswoman Haley Stevens!”
Appearing with Trump in Iowa for a campaign rally, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said that he spoke to Stevens after she endorsed Rogers. Johnson said he “encouraged her to stay safe and keep speaking the truth.”
Stevens is not seeking reelection to her House seat Tuesday.
A spokesman for the Republican National Committee, Hunter Lovell, said Democrats who feel abandoned by El-Sayed “have a home” with Rogers.
Cappelletti, Williams and Householder write for the Associated Press. Cappelletti reported from Washington.
