Rep. Haley Stevens crossed party lines on Sunday to back Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan’s U.S. Senate race. She posted the endorsement on X along with a two-minute video. In the post, she wrote, “I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States Senate today,” and added, “I’m still a very proud Democrat.”
The move came after El-Sayed’s campaign told her to stay away from his events. Stevens said, “Hey Michigan, 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 Mike Rogers for the United States Senate today.”
El-Sayed had narrowly defeated Stevens in the Democratic primary. The two had clashed over his views on Israel and his outreach to Black and Jewish voters. Progressives had a furious reaction to Stevens’ reaction on social media.
Disputes over an Israel ad and outreach led to the break
According to Mediaite, Stevens had asked El-Sayed to apologize for an ad paid for by the progressive Rebellion PAC. The ad featured a woman in a grocery store complaining that eggs were expensive because “we have to set that $7 aside for killing Palestinians.” El-Sayed has tried to distance himself from the ad.
He has also tried to separate himself from early appearances with streamer Hasan Piker. Piker has made comments about Jews and said America “deserved” 9/11. Stevens’s fiancé, Jason Turkish, told Fox News on Saturday that he was supporting Rogers. He pointed to El-Sayed’s refusal during a debate to say whether Iran or Israel was a greater threat to the United States.
Turkish said Stevens wanted the apology for the cost-of-living ad. Stevens had earlier said she would campaign with El-Sayed. Differences later developed over how he approached Black and Jewish voters. She criticized him for not reaching out to those groups the way she expected.
Local journalist Sam Robinson posted an X video of Stevens joining Rogers on Saturday night at Perfecting Church in Detroit. In the clip, Stevens talked about investing in Black-owned businesses. She said, “And that’s the policy that Mike’s going to take on.”
The backlash was swift from a large section of Democrats and progressives. Neera Tanden, who served as a Senior Advisor to President Joe Biden, wrote: “Standing with Miker Rogers is a betrayal of everything Haley Stevens has fought for her entire career. It’s also a betrayal of all of her supporters that believed in her.”
Pod Save America co-host and former Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama Dan Pfeiffer wrote that he believed Stevens had a bright political future, but she “decided to light it all on fire in the final hours of the campaign.”
Pfeiffer’s podcast co-host Jon Favreu also had harsh words for the Congresswoman, writing: “This is the single most unproductive, selfish thing a Democratic candidate has done all cycle and likely many cycles before that.”
Former Associated Press and Atlantic Magazine journalist Ron Fournier opined: “Haley Stevens is now cursed to serve Trump and Trumpism the rest of her failed political career.”
Published: Nov 2, 2026 06:15 am