Haley Stevens defends switch to Republican Mike Rogers two days before election

Congresswoman Haley Stevens has defended withdrawing her support for Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed and endorsing Republican Mike Rogers two days before the election, according to the BBC. The Guardian reports that the endorsement followed a dispute with El-Sayed and stunned her Democratic colleagues. Stevens, who narrowly lost the Michigan primary to El-Sayed, said she had changed her mind; the BBC also reported staff resignations following her announcement.¹²

Dispute over an advertisement

Stevens had endorsed El-Sayed after conceding defeat in August’s primary, the BBC reported. Defending her subsequent switch to Rogers, she said: “I changed my mind.” She maintained that nothing about her had changed despite the reversal.²

Stevens had made her participation in an El-Sayed campaign event conditional on his condemning an advertisement. According to the Guardian, the advertisement attributed high living costs to US support for Israel, and El-Sayed’s campaign subsequently withdrew her invitation.¹³

Middle East Eye reported that Stevens said El-Sayed had made clear she was unwelcome in his campaign. The outlet also reported that she posted a video endorsing Rogers on X and appeared with him at a Detroit church in November.³

Middle East Eye described El-Sayed as an outspoken critic of Israel’s actions in Gaza and reported that Stevens had received backing from AIPAC. In remarks reported by the outlet, Stevens said: “Who we are as Michiganders is not hate”.³

Democrats condemn the endorsement

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer called the endorsement “a despicable betrayal”. According to the Guardian, he affirmed Senate Democrats’ support for El-Sayed and accused Rogers of serving Trump and billionaire donors.¹³

Michigan Democratic party chair Curtis Hertel said Stevens was not a member of the state party and would not become one in future. The Guardian reported that he questioned her explanation for endorsing Rogers and suggested resentment over her primary defeat.¹

Hertel also accused Rogers of abandoning Michigan workers, supporting a nationwide abortion ban and promising to vote for Trump’s programme, Middle East Eye reported. He said Democrats would resist efforts to divide the party and weaken its momentum.³

According to the Guardian, Nancy Pelosi said Stevens’s decision betrayed Michigan families on healthcare, freedoms and their future. New York mayor Zohran Mamdani accused her of betraying working-class people, while Michigan representative Debbie Dingell stressed voters’ concerns about living costs, healthcare and housing.¹

The BBC reported that some Stevens staff resigned immediately after the endorsement announcement. Debbie Dingell also described Stevens’s interview performance as painful, according to the broadcaster.²

Trump welcomes Stevens’s support

Trump praised the endorsement on Truth Social and said Stevens had demonstrated loyalty to Michigan residents, the Guardian reported. At a rally in Dubuque, Iowa, he also invited her to join the Republican party.¹

Rogers said Stevens’s decision showed courage, while Trump agreed that she had been very brave, the BBC reported.²

Jewish Democratic congressional nominees Brad Lander and Daniel Bliss urged voters to support El-Sayed, according to the Guardian. They contrasted the candidates’ parties on discrimination and presented El-Sayed as the choice for accountability and affordability.¹

El-Sayed sought to move attention away from the controversy. Responding to the backlash, he said “none of this matters” and “I don’t want any distractions”, Middle East Eye reported. He also told the BBC he was focused on problems facing Michigan residents and did not think about Stevens.²³