In a stunning break with her party just two days before Election Day, Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens endorsed Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan’s high-stakes Senate race.
The endorsement marks a dramatic turn in a contest that could help determine control of the U.S. Senate, and throws an already bitter Democratic feud into the national spotlight.
Stevens’ decision came after a public dispute with Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed, who defeated her in the August primary. The conflict intensified over an outside advertisement critical of Israel that Stevens said was antisemitic, and her demand that El-Sayed condemn it before she would appear with him at a campaign event. El-Sayed’s campaign then asked Stevens to stay away from its events.
Join Gambit Forecaster’s Newsletter!
Stevens announced her endorsement in a video after appearing alongside Rogers at a Detroit church. “Abdul said that I was no longer welcome in his campaign and that I should stay away. And he’s right,” she said, before declaring her support for Rogers. She insisted she was not turning her back on Democrats, but her endorsement of the Republican nominee has drawn fierce criticism from Democratic allies.
The reversal was especially jarring because Stevens had reportedly told Democratic officials as recently as Saturday that she planned to vote for El-Sayed.
Rep. Jamie Raskin said Stevens had assured him she would vote straight down the Democratic ticket, while screenshots of text messages obtained by POLITICO showed Stevens writing, “I am voting straight Dem!!!!” Her abrupt change of course left many Democrats questioning what had happened in the hours before her announcement.
Stevens’ CNN interview with Anderson Cooper only deepened those questions. Cooper repeatedly pressed her to explain what had changed, but Stevens did not identify a specific event or conversation that prompted the endorsement. She said El-Sayed had become “angrier” and described waking up “clear-eyed, fresh and focused on what was in my heart,” without offering a clear explanation for her decision.
The backlash from Democrats was immediate. Several members of Stevens’ congressional staff, including longtime chief of staff Justin German, resigned and said they would continue working to elect El-Sayed.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the endorsement a “despicable betrayal,” while Michigan Democratic leaders and lawmakers, including Sen. Elissa Slotkin and Rep. Debbie Dingell, reaffirmed their support for the Democratic nominee. Dingell later described Stevens’ CNN interview as “one of the most painful interviews I have ever watched.”
Republicans quickly embraced the endorsement, portraying it as evidence of divisions within the Democratic Party and a useful boost for Rogers in the final days of the campaign. But the extent of its impact on the race remains uncertain, particularly with millions of Michigan voters already having cast ballots.
With the Senate majority potentially on the line, Stevens’ endorsement has become a major late-breaking controversy—but whether it changes the outcome on Election Day is still an open question.
Check out our midterm election forecast, and our State Watch page. (THIS POST WILL SOON BE NEWSLETTER EXCLUSIVE)