Democrat Haley Stevens endorses Republican in key Michigan Senate race

A Democrat in Michigan has endorsed the Republican candidate in the state's closely-fought US Senate contest, as a spat with her own party's candidate Abdul El-Sayed escalated just days before the vote.

Haley Stevens, a sitting congresswoman who lost out on the Democratic nomination to El-Sayed, made a surprise appearance alongside the Republican candidate Mike Rogers at a church on Sunday.

"I don't belong in Abdul's campaign," she said in a video posted to X shortly after that appearance. "Who we are as Michiganders is not hate and is not what we are getting out from our Democratic nominee right now."

"That's why I am endorsing Mike Rogers," Stevens said.

Stevens also said El-Sayed had told her she was no longer welcome in his campaign.

"This is a very close election, we all know that, but Abdul made clear that I was not welcome in his campaign, that he didn't need me there, that he didn't want me there," Stevens told reporters after the Sunday church service.

The pair had been scheduled to appear together at a different event on Sunday, but El-Sayed reportedly asked her not to come.

They had clashed publicly over a campaign advert from a liberal group which blamed Israel for high food prices.

El-Sayed criticised the advert and said he had nothing to do with its contents.

The Michigan Senate race is considered by analysts to be one of the tightest in Tuesday's midterm elections, which will decide which party controls Congress for the next two years.

It is one of a handful of battleground contests that will ultimately decide control of the Senate.

When asked about Stevens' endorsement, El-Sayed told reporters he was focused on problems Michiganders are facing.

"At the end of the day I don't think about Haley Stevens," he said. "None of this matters."

Rogers, meanwhile, welcomed Stevens' endorsement and said it showed "courage".

Many of her staff reportedly resigned after her announcement, while the chair of the Democratic Party in the state said Stevens' decision "shows that she has abandoned everything she claims to care about".

"We reject the attempts by Stevens and bad-faith actors to divide our party and undermine our momentum," Curtis Hertel said in a statement.

Over the weekend, as Stevens' criticism of El-Sayed escalated, a number of Democratic politicians in Michigan publicly encouraged her to end the feud and back the party's candidates.

"I have no idea what the hell Haley Stevens is doing," State Senator Mallory McMorrow told CNN.

On Sunday, Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer said he and the party were firmly behind El-Sayed, without directly mentioning Stevens.

"Senate Democrats are united in our support for Abdul El-Sayed, because we know he will fight for the economic interests of working families in Michigan," he said.