Dem Rep Haley Stevens, Fresh From Split With Abdul El-Sayed, Endorses Republican Challenger Mike Rogers Two Days Before Midterms
Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens broke with both former rival for Michigan's open Senate seat Abdul El-Sayed as well as their party Sunday to endorse the Republican nominee, Mike Rogers, just two days before the midterm elections.
Libby Bandelin·Nov 1, 2026·5 min read
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Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens broke with both former rival for Michigan’s open Senate seat Abdul El-Sayed as well as their party Sunday to endorse the Republican nominee, Mike Rogers, just two days before the midterm elections.
Hours after making an appearance with Rogers at a Detroit church Sunday afternoon, the congresswoman shocked observers by calling on her constituents to vote for the Rogers. She stated she “does not belong in Abdul El-Sayed’s campaign or stand with Hasan Piker,” during a video posted to her X account after the event.
“As you may have seen, our Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, Abdul El-Sayed, said that I was no longer welcome in his campaign and that I should stay away,” Stevens also said. “And he’s right. That’s why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States Senate today.”
“What our students see, what our children see, and who we are as Michiganders is not hate and that is not what we are getting from our Democratic nominee right now,” Stevens continued in the video. “I’m still a very proud Democrat and very much believe in everything I voted for.”
El-Sayed and Stevens have been caught sniping each other over their differing stances on Israel, firing statements back and forth online in the days leading up to the hotly contested midterm election. Stevens narrowly lost to El-Sayed in the Michigan primaries. Notably, she was reportedly disinvited from a competing church event with him and Democratic South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn.
Friday asking for El-Sayed to apologize for a campaign ad claiming that Jews are responsible for America’s economic woes. El-Sayed, a staunch critic of Israel, responded by asking Stevens to stay away from all his remaining campaign events.
Stevens’s surprise Sunday endorsement prompted quick reactions and statement from both sides of the aisle, as well as online users claiming to be her constituents.
The chair of Michigan’s Democratic Party, Curtis Hertil, issued a scathing statement saying the party “stands united and fully behind Abdul El-Sayed” and that Stevens’s decision to campaign with Rogers “shows that she’s 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, and will not allow these eleventh-hour distractions deter us,” it continues.
In addition, Justin German, whose served as Stevens’s chief of staff for eight years, said he and other members of the congresswoman’s team are “shocked and heartbroken” by her endorsement, and expressed their “wholehearted support of El-Sayed.” German resigned from his position along with other members of Steven’s team.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer similarly expressed his disapproval, having the prospects of his becoming the majority leader possibly threatened by Stevens’ move.
“This is a despicable betrayal from Rep. Stevens,” he wrote Sunday. “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, unlike Mike Rogers, who is a tool of Donald Trump and billionaire donors.”
Many Democrats have called Mike Rogers “a rubber stamp for Trump’s dangerous agenda,” including Stevens who posted as much two months earlier. With Stevens’s 180-degree turn, however, members of the Republican party are now praising her.
“When Congresswoman Haley Stevens, who ran against Abdul El-Sayed and knows him better than anyone, stands with Mike Rogers, Michigan should take notice,” Republican National Committee spokesman Hunter Lovell said in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Democrats who feel Abdul has abandoned them have a home with Mike, who is building a winning coalition of Democrats, Independents, and Republicans to save Michigan from El-Sayed’s radical, terrorist-sympathizing agenda. The center of Michigan politics has moved, and Abdul is on the wrong side of it.”
President Donald Trump likewise quickly waded into the Sunday firestorm, posting to Truth Social his approval of Stevens’s “bravery.”
“Wow, this is BIG! Congresswoman Haley Stevens, a Highly Respected Democrat, who narrowly lost in the Primary to Abdul Mohamed El-Sayed, and who has been breathlessly wined and dined by the Dumocrats to help in their Michigan Campaign for the United States Senate against Mike Rogers, has just ENDORSED Mike Rogers for Senate!” he wrote. “Her following is huge, and the level of respect from the People of Michigan, especially our African American and Jewish populations, is virtually unparalleled.”
“Haley said what few people are willing to say,” he continued. “She showed great and almost unprecedented loyalty to the Great People of Michigan with what she did. It’s a thing called bravery, and few people have it like just displayed by Congresswoman Haley Stevens!”
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