Stevens defends surprise Rogers endorsement: ‘I’m not turning my back on Democrats’

Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens (Mich.) defended her last-minute endorsement of Republican Mike Rogers in the battleground Michigan Senate race after initially supporting Democrat Abdul El-Sayed

“I’m not turning my back on Democrats,” she told reporters in Detroit alongside Rogers. “It is this one vote.”

“It’s my personal and private decision. I still love the party. I’ve done a ton for the party,” she continued. “I’ve voted for the party over and over and over again. I’m going to continue to do that as I fill out my term. Everyone should be fired up for Democrats.”

Stevens cited controversial Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who El-Sayed campaigned with during the primary battle, as the reason why she decided to reverse course on her endorsement. El-Sayed has not appeared alongside Piker since he beat Stevens in the August Democratic primary.

“When you see us standing with Hasan Piker and repeated hate, it’s not acceptable,” she said. “That’s it.”

Rogers said Sunday that he was “honored” to have the Democrat’s support and called her endorsement an example of “courage in politics.”

Stevens shocked her party on Sunday when she attended service at Detroit’s Perfecting Church alongside Rogers, just two days out from Election Day.

A Decision Desk HQ polling average of Michigan Senate surveys shows El-Sayed leading Rogers by roughly 4 percentage points.

The congresswoman was previously invited to attend a Sunday campaign event with El-Sayed brokered by Democratic Reps. Jim Clyburn (S.C.) and Debbie Dingell (Mich.). However, the Democratic Senate nominee disinvited Stevens from the event after she took to social media to criticize El-Sayed on Friday — which she repeatedly cited Sunday when asked about her endorsement of Rogers.

“Abdul was very clear. He said, ‘Don’t come,’” Stevens said Sunday.

Stevens had pushed for El-Sayed to disavow an ad created by a group supporting the progressive that blamed high grocery prices on Israel and the war in Gaza. El-Sayed told MS NOW that his campaign was not behind the ad and that “I do not agree with the contents of that ad.”

A source familiar confirmed to NewsNation , The Hill’s sister network, on Saturday that El-Sayed disinvited her from the planned Sunday event and did not want her near his other campaign events.

The rift between El-Sayed and Stevens is unwelcome news for Democrats who need to hold onto retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) seat to flip the upper chamber. Democrats have sought to patch up party divisions after a nasty primary that largely focused on Israel, and Stevens, had indicated she would vote for El-Sayed until Sunday.

“I endorsed him. I meant it when I endorsed him,” she said Sunday of her initial support for El-Sayed after her narrow primary loss.

Sunday’s press gaggle ended abruptly after an attendee shouted that Stevens was a “traitor.”

Democrats have come out in defense of El-Sayed after Stevens’s Sunday reversal.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm and Michigan Democrats released statements of their own underscoring that they were behind El-Sayed on Tuesday.

“The stakes of this election could not be higher: Mike Rogers is a rubber stamp for Donald Trump, and together they plan to continue sowing chaos and making life unaffordable for families while prioritizing their billionaire donors at the expense of Michigan families,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), chair of the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, said in a statement.

“We stand firmly behind Abdul El-Sayed, who is a fighter for Michiganders and will work tirelessly to be the champion they need in the Senate, and we reject any efforts to divide Democrats ahead of Tuesday’s crucial election,” she added.