Michigan’s brutal campaign duel to win the state’s open Senate seat is in its final hours. Yet the biggest surprise of the race has not come from the opposition research shops of Democrat Abdul El-Sayed or MAGA Republican Mike Rogers, but from a bitter
primary opponent.
Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens, who lost the primary to El-Sayed after an ugly fight for the nomination, announced on Sunday that she is endorsing Rogers. The move shocked Michigan Democrats and members of her own staff, and comes after months of rhetoric in which Stevens insisted she supported the Democratic ticket while bashing Rogers as “a rubber stamp” for the Trump administration who would support continued attacks on reproductive rights, tax breaks for the wealthy, and higher healthcare costs for Americans.
But all that apparently fell to the wayside in the face of her hurt feelings and support for Israel. “Our Democratic nominee for Senate said I was no longer welcome in his campaign and that I should stay away,” Stevens — filming a selfie video in her car — said in a clip posted on social media. “He’s right, and that’s why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States Senate today.”
Stevens claimed that her decision was made because “who we are as Michiganders is not hate,” alluding to past accusations she has made against El-Sayed attempting to frame his opposition to American support for Israel’s war in Gaza as inherently antisemitic. Rogers, meanwhile, has leveled a litany of Islamaphobic attacks against El-Sayed, while refusing to disavow Trump’s similarly bigoted rhetoric.
In a press conference on Sunday, Stevens appeared alongside Rogers and defended her decision. Calling herself a “proud Democrat,” she claimed that she was only “one vote” in the state. “I’m gonna cast my ballot — I still haven’t done that — and 90 percent of the votes I’m gonna cast are going to be for Democrats … but my vote for Senate is going to be with Mike Rogers, and I will tell you why. Because we have to stand with country. We can’t stand with hate.”
The surprise endorsement came after days of frantic efforts within the Michigan Democratic Party to rein in Stevens after her fiance — attorney Jason Turkish — made several media appearances in which he declared his opposition to El-Sayed and suggested Stevens would follow his lead.
The pair were honed in on an ad created by the Rebellion PAC — which is not affiliated with the El-Sayed campaign — which suggested the prioritization of funding for military aid to Israel was responsible for high grocery prices. Stevens responded to the ad by demanding that El-Sayed disavow the ad, or she would not attend a planned church event on Sunday with him and Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.).
“I’ve already made it clear that that ad was not made by me, and I do not agree with the contents of that ad,” El-Sayed said in response. “It’s not really of relevance to Michigan voters.” El-Sayed also posted a statement noting that Stevens “seems intent on relitigating a primary that ended three months ago” instead of focusing on defeating Rogers.
On Sunday, as members of her staff waited for her to arrive at the church event, Stevens instead appeared alongside Rogers at another church service, and apparently recorded her endorsement announcement from a car after the event.
In the fallout of the endorsement, multiple prominent Democrats came forward saying they had spoken to Stevens in recent days and had been reassured of her continued commitment to the Democratic ticket.
“She’s been clear from the beginning: she’s supporting the [Democratic] ticket,” Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) told CNN on Saturday. “She’s voting for him, despite the number of rumors that are out there that she’s going to rescind it or et cetera. That’s not what she’s doing.”
Hours later, Stevens would do exactly that.
Former Michigan Gov. Jim Blanchard told Gongwer News in an interview following the announcement that during a recent dinner with Stevens and members of her family, Turkish had openly berated the lawmaker over her decision to back El-Sayed.
“He was working her over. The way he was saying it was, ‘Everyone is disappointed in you, they did everything they could to help you and then immediately after you lose the primary, you endorsed him,’” Blanchard said.
“I said, ‘Yeah, because she’s a team player. You have to be gracious. Come on,’” the former governor recalled, only for Turkish to reiterate that certain people were still “really disappointed in her.’”
Stevens’ relationship with Turkish has become a focal point in this bizarre saga. The pair became engaged just three months ago, after less than a year of dating. Turkish, who has close familial connections to Israel, has described himself as a “pro-Israel Democrat.” As Turkish took to making media appearances bashing El-Sayed as antisemitic and a danger to Jewish Michiganders, the rift between Stevens and the El-Sayed campaign continued to grow.
On Sunday, El Sayed’s campaign dismissed Stevens’ endorsement of his opponent. “While Congresswoman Stevens seems intent on relitigating a primary that ended three months ago, let’s all focus on the task at hand: that’s beating Mike Rogers, holding Trump accountable, and getting money out of politics, putting money in pockets, and passing Medicare for All,” he said in a statement issued by the campaign.
Smiling to himself as reporters peppered him with questions, El-Sayed seemed unperturbed. “None of this matters,” he said. “You know what matters? … There are families who are preparing to send their kids to schools tomorrow that look like they did 50 years ago. They’re worried about what they’re going to feed their kids for lunch. They’re worried that if one of their kids gets sick, they’re not going to be able to pay the bills. Those are the things that matter.”
El-Sayed’s campaign raised $2.4 million on Sunday, the most of any day of the campaign. A New York Times/Siena poll released Monday, the last before the election, found El-Sayed leading Rogers 53 percent to 42 percent.
Democrats, including those who had courted Stevens to run for the party’s nomination, were not as diplomatic as El-Sayed in their responses to Stevens’ announcement. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called it a “despicable betrayal” that Stevens would defect from the party to support Rogers, “a tool of Donald Trump and billionaire donors.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) was also incensed, calling it a “terrible decision” that, “blindsided everyone and isolated herself from the House Democratic caucus.” He added that the caucus “will have a discussion about appropriate next steps upon our return.” Axios reported Monday morning that plenty of Democrats want to kick her out of the caucus over the endorsement.
On the other hand, Donald Trump was thrilled by the news, praising Stevens on Truth Social. “It’s a thing called bravery,” he wrote, “and few people have it like just displayed by Congresswoman Haley Stevens!”
Facing a mass exodus of her staff and the heat death of her political career, Stevens — in a primetime CNN interview attempting to justify the decision — continued to implode on the national stage.
Stevens sparred with host Anderson Cooper, who repeatedly pressed her on her inability to articulate why she had changed her mind, or what she hoped to gain from such a monumental rebuke of the nominee hours before an election.
“Do you want Democrats to win control of the Senate?” Cooper asked.
“I absolutely do. I just — I’m just casting my vote this one way,” Stevens began.
“With all due respect, you’re casting your vote that way and you’re on television right now talking about it and you had a press conference earlier, so you’re not just casting your vote, you are very publicly casting your vote,” Cooper interrupted.
Stevens stuttered. “I’m very happy to be with you, I love my state,” she said. “I’m just one person.”
It’s wishful thinking from an individual who is — despite the blatant lack of judgement shown in the past week — aware of the fact that they may have dug a hole too deep to climb out of. In the segment immediately following her interview with Cooper, Debbie Dingell, to whom Stevens had spoken the previous day, was asked to react.
“That was one of the most painful interviews I have ever watched,” Dingell said.
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