Democrats blast Stevens over Michigan ‘betrayal’

Rep. Haley Stevens’s (D-Mich.) last-minute decision to endorse former Rep. Mike Rogers (R) over Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in the Michigan Senate race has outraged Democrats while giving Republicans welcome headlines and a glimmer of hope that they can flip the battleground seat.

Democrats spewed anger over the move by Stevens , who joined Rogers at a Sunday church service in Detroit amid weekend sniping with El-Sayed, who had bested her in a bitter August primary, that ultimately imperiled a planned joint appearance alongside Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) and the Democratic Senate nominee.

In public, the party downplayed any impact the late development — a November surprise, if you will — would have on the crucial contest. They noted that many Michigan voters have already cast their ballots and raised doubts that Stevens would change many minds this close to Election Day.

But the news, coming at a time when Democratic hopes for a strong election, was hardly welcome, and Democratic leaders were outraged by what they viewed as treachery.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who supported Stevens in the primary, called her announcement a “despicable betrayal” while several members of Stevens’s official staff resigned in protest.

John Morgan, the longtime Democratic megadonor who donated to Stevens’s primary campaign, suggested her endorsement will help El-Sayed.

“What she demonstrated today is that she cares more about herself than the people in her state,” Morgan said. “She had a reputation for being mean and petty and proved it today.”

“She is now a washed up battle axe who has effectively retired from politics,” he added. “She is now officially radioactive.”

Michigan State Rep. Joe Tate (D), a former state House Speaker who also endorsed Stevens in the primary, called the episode “shocking and disappointing.”

“There are going to be some hard feelings after this,” he added. “That’s just a reality.”

But some members of the party were more circumspect. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) called the development “suboptimal” and “unfortunate” in an interview on 2WAY’s “The Morning Meeting,” stopping short of condemning the House Democrat.

El-Sayed and Rogers are locked in a tight race to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), with a Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ) polling average showing the Democratahead by close to 5 percentage points. DDHQ forecasts that El-Sayed has a 73 percent probability of winning the seat on Tuesday.

Recent public polling has shown El-Sayed’s lead largely hovering between 4 and 7 points. A Sunday poll from The New York Times and Siena University showed El-Sayed with an 11 point lead over Rogers.

The Great Lakes State is seen as one of Republicans’ best pick-up opportunities, and the GOP made it no secret they wanted to run against the progressive over Stevens during the primary.

Speaking to reporters alongside Stevens on Sunday, Rogers said he was “honored” to have her endorsement, calling it “courage in politics.”

Meanwhile, Stevens downplayed her reversal of support, saying “I’m not turning my back on Democrats,” while making it clear she was frustrated at El-Sayed for campaigning with controversial far-left Twitch streamer Hasan Piker during the primary and for disinviting her from the shared event planned for Sunday.

The two Democrats have been at odds over U.S. should support Israel amid the war in Gaza. The Hill has reached out to Stevens’ office for comment.

El-Sayed brushed off Stevens’ reversal of support, telling reporters flanked besides Clyburn and Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) that he doesn’t think about her.

“This is a state of 10 million people who deserve a lot better from the government. I’m a lot more focused on the 9,999,998 that are not the ones you guys are talking about,” he said, omitting Stevens and her fiancé, who is also supporting Rogers.

For Republicans, Stevens’s endorsement was a welcome development for the party, who believe even a small shift in support could make all the difference for their candidate.

“Mike Rogers continues to build a winning coalition of common-sense voters who Abdul El-Sayed has alienated by campaigning alongside Hasan Piker, who said ‘America deserves 9/11’ and failing to unequivocally condemn terrorist regimes like the Muslim Brotherhood and [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps],” Bernadette Breslin, a spokeswoman for the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, said in a statement.

Michigan Republican strategist Jason Cabel Roe said the news has shifted the momentum toward the Republican candidate.

“At the end of an election, you want to close on your message, and he’s done a very good job of controlling the message in his campaign,” Roe, who’s uninvolved in the Senate race, told The Hill. “And he now spends 48 hours explaining this away.”

Stevens is not the only prominent Democrat in Michigan who has not backed El-Sayed, Roe noted, citing former Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lon Johnson and Democratic fundraiser David Kramer, who chaired Stevens’s Senate campaign.

Still, her explicit endorsement of Rogers has angered and baffled Democrats, with some House Democrats telling Politico they’re mulling expelling her from their caucus. The congresswoman was quickly considered person non grata in Michigan, with the state party also removing her photo from its official website.

“Just when you think you’ve seen it all,” one Democratic strategist said. “To do it like this? It’s other level.”

Morgan predicted El Sayed would win “to make it insult to injury.” Another longtime Democratic donor agreed, “She’s become a total narcissist.”

Some Democrats, however, worried that Stevens endorsment could hurt El-Sayed with less than 48 hours until Election Day.

“Why do we always have this ability to f— s— up?” a second Democratic strategist said. “Every single time, count on us to f— it up.”

“All she had to do was manage to keep it together for a couple more days,” they continued. “Somehow, it’s what we always do.”

It’s unclear how Stevens’s eleventh-hour move will ultimately affect the final vote for El-Sayed. Michigan pollster Richard Czuba suggested that if the polling is accurately capturing the dynamics of the race, her endorsment is unlikely to hurt Democrats.

Although the news “would certainly help energize Republicans a bit,” Czuba noted that President Trump’s low approval ratings bogging down the GOP will matter more.

“In our numbers, if you disapprove of Donald Trump, 83 percent of those voters are going to Abdul. If you approve of Trump, 92 percent of those voters are going to Rogers,” Czuba said. “That’s the dividing line. It’s not Haley Stevens.”

Regardless of Tuesday’s outcome, however, Democrats see a dim political future for Stevens.

“I’m generally willing to show a lot of grace to candidates who lose their primary,” said Steve Schale, a veteran Democratic strategist. “She could have kept her mouth shut — which I’d understand, but instead she chose to end her career.”