Haley Stevens endorses GOP’s Mike Rogers in Michigan as Democrats fume

Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) on Sunday endorsed former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) to serve in the Senate over Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed, who defeated her in a bitter primary battle over the summer.

The Stevens announcement came after days of fueding between the Democrats, and just two days before the midterm elections.

Democrats are seeking to hold on to the Michigan Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Gary Peters (D). A loss in Michigan would make it more difficult for the party to win the Senate majority. Democrats need a net gain of four Senate seats to take the majority.

Anger over Israel and the Gaza war was at the heart of the Stevens-El-Sayed primary fight, their subsequent feud and Stevens’s decision to endorse a Republican.

Stevens had called on El-Sayed to publicly disavow a campaign ad run by an outside group. He refused, and over the weekend, made it clear Stevens was not welcome at a Sunday campaign event where she had been invited through other Democrats seeking to put the messy fight behind the party.

“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 my Rogers for the United States Senate today,” Stevens said in a video posted on the social platform X.

Her endorsement came after she appeared at church on Sunday alongside Rogers, a move that enraged Michigan Democrats.

In a Sunday post from Rogers’s campaign staffer Abby Ronson on the social platform X, Stevens is seen in a photo standing next to the GOP nominee, with the caption reading , “HAPPENING NOW: Congresswoman Haley Stevens joins Mike Rogers at church in Detroit this morning.”

“We have a state to save, Michigan,” the post continued.

Michigan Democrats released a statement blasting Rogers and Stevens.

“Mike Rogers is Donald Trump’s hand-picked candidate for Senate, a rubber stamp for Trump’s toxic agenda, and a corrupt politician looking out only for himself,” said Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel.

“The Michigan Democratic Party stands united and fully behind Abdul El-Sayed, a proven, committed fighter for Michigan’s working families. Haley Stevens’ decision to campaign with Rogers—a man who has repeatedly sold out Michigan’s working class, wants to pass a national abortion ban, and has pledged to be a loyal vote for Trump’s agenda—shows that she has abandoned everything she claims to care about,” he continued. “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.”

On Friday, El-Sayed, who if elected would be the nation’s first Muslim senator, called out Stevens after she expected him to apologize due to his remarks on Israel only days away from the midterm elections.

Stevens said this weekend she would appear with El-Sayed for the first time since the August primary. But El-Sayed dropped Stevens from the event, according to sources familiar with matter.

“So 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,” El-Sayed said in a statement posted on X.

Stevens had targeted the Democratic nominee because of his response to a controversial ad that appeared to connect Israel to high grocery prices in the U.S. and which some viewed as antisemitic.

El-Sayed has expressed his desire for the U.S. to cut off financial aid to Israel and instead spend that money on domestic issues. During the Democratic primary, Stevens received millions from pro-Israel lobbying groups, a major point of contention between the candidates.

Following her loss, Stevens backed El-Sayed and endorsed him.

However, Stevens’s fiancé, who is Jewish, recently said he would cast his ballot for Rogers.

The tension between El-Sayed and Stevens represents a broader split among Democrats over the issue of support for Israel, with many disapproving of the country’s actions in its war in Gaza, which some have labeled as a “genocide.”

The Hill has reached out to Stevens’s office and El-Sayed’s campaign for further comment.