DETROIT — Rep. Haley Stevens on Sunday endorsed Republican Mike Rogers in the Michigan Senate race, accelerating the string of headaches she’s caused for Democrats in the eleventh hour of a critical race between Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed.
“I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States Senate today. I don’t belong in Abdul’s campaign,” Stevens said in a video announcing the endorsement, going on to say that she’s still “a very proud Democrat.”
Stevens, who lost in the Democratic Senate primary to El-Sayed, appeared with Rogers at a Detroit church on Sunday. In a clip shared by a local reporter, Stevens said she’s for investing in Black-owned businesses and “that is a policy that Mike’s going to take on.”
A spokesperson for Stevens responded to an inquiry by referring The Sun to a tweet reporting the news that Stevens’ official staff were resigning from her office on Sunday.
Trending
“We are shocked and heartbroken by Congresswoman Stevens’ decision to support Mike Rogers,” Justin German, Stevens’ former chief of staff, said later in a statement. “As of this morning, many members of our team have resigned, including myself. We encourage everyone to exercise their civic duty, vote for Abdul and Democrats up and down the ballot, and stand up for the America we all believe in.”
Rogers’ campaign referred The Washington Sun to her endorsement post.
Stevens was originally slated to appear with El-Sayed and Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-South Carolina) at another church for a “Souls to the Polls” event on Sunday, but she was ultimately uninvited after needling El-Sayed on Friday over his criticism of Israel, creating a distracting intraparty feud in the final stretch of the close contest.
El-Sayed’s campaign previously told The Sun that they had asked Stevens not to attend campaign events in the final days before the election after Friday’s dust-up. Later on Saturday, Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Michigan) told CNN that she had rescinded the invitation because “there’s nothing to be gained by the two of them being in the same place for the next few days.”
Stevens’ fiance, Jason Turkish, said last week that he planned to vote for Rogers.
‘“It is still unclear to me how he went from donor to fiancé,” a source familiar with the inner workings of Stevens’ Senate campaign told The Sun. “I have not talked to either of them since August, but I think it’s the two of them against the world now.”
It’s unclear that any of this will ultimately affect voter sentiment. At least one Democratic donor was skeptical there was any reason to be concerned.
“No. She couldn’t move votes for herself,” the donor said, in reference to her failed primary run against El-Sayed.
But it is a distraction in an election that had otherwise pulled together most factions of the Democratic Party.
“The people that were all pro-Israel and stuff, they weren’t going to vote for him anyhow. So I’m not sure if it made that big of a difference, but it sure showed her colors,” said Jackie, an El-Sayed supporter who declined to give her last name, at a get-out-the-vote rally on Saturday.
Her support of Rogers immediately drew criticism from national and state Democrats.
“Standing with [Mike] Rogers is a betrayal of everything Haley Stevens has fought for her entire career. It’s also a betrayal of all of her supporters that believed in her,” said Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress, on social media.
The state Democratic Party also made a point of condemning Stevens and reiterating its support for El-Sayed.
“Haley Stevens’ decision to campaign with Rogers ... shows that she has abandoned everything she claims to care about,” said Curtis Hertel, the chair of the Democratic state party, in a statement. “We reject the attempts by Stevens and bad-faith actors to divide our party and undermine our momentum, and will not allow these eleventh-hour distractions deter us.”
Her endorsement gave Republicans reason to celebrate.
“It’s a massive shift and a significant sign of just how far left and radical people like Abdul El-Sayed or William Lawrence are,” said Rep. Tom Barrett, a Republican running for reelection against Lawrence in a competitive Michigan district, in a text to The Sun. “They are both ultra-ultra radicals who refuse to disavow their connections to people like Hasan Piker. It shows just how far they have gone, even losing support from mainstream Democrats.”
—
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with additional reporting.
Author
Contributors
