Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens Endorses Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan Senate Race, Two Days Before Election Day

Rep. Haley Stevens, a Michigan Democrat who lost her party's Senate primary to Abdul El-Sayed, endorsed the Republican nominee, former Rep. Mike Rogers, on Sunday — two days before an election that could decide control of the U.S. Senate, USA Today reported. Stevens appeared with Rogers and his wife at a service at Perfecting Church on Detroit's east side, then announced the endorsement in a video post. 'I don't belong in Abdul's campaign,' said Stevens, who called herself 'a very proud Democrat.' 'This is the conscience of the Senate right now and our Michigan moment.' Stevens and El-Sayed had been expected at a joint church event with Rep. James Clyburn, but El-Sayed's campaign asked Stevens not to attend last-minute campaigning after she released an October 30 statement calling on El-Sayed to condemn an ad from an outside political action committee, per USA Today's account.

The reaction split the party in public. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who said in June he thought Stevens had the best chance of beating Rogers, called the endorsement a 'despicable betrayal' and said Senate Democrats were united behind El-Sayed 'because we know he will fight for the economic interests of working families in Michigan,' per USA Today. Rep. Jamie Raskin told Axios he was 'dumbfounded that Haley told me one thing last night and changed her mind today,' after telling NBC's Meet the Press that Stevens had said the night before she planned to vote the full Democratic ticket. Stevens' longtime chief of staff Justin German said he and 'many members' of her team resigned ahead of the endorsement, and Michigan Democratic Party chair Curtis Hertel said Stevens was no longer a member of the state party. El-Sayed, campaigning with Clyburn as scheduled, declined to engage: 'I actually don't think about Haley Stevens,' he told reporters. At a press availability with Stevens, Rogers said he was proud to earn her vote: 'Candidly, I'm glad I'm not running against Haley Stevens today.'

President Donald Trump welcomed the endorsement, calling Stevens 'a Highly Respected Democrat' and saying, 'She showed great and almost unprecedented loyalty to the Great People of Michigan with what she did,' per USA Today's account of his remarks; his live election file separately quoted him calling it 'a big move.' The fight underneath the break, per USA Today, ran through El-Sayed's campaigning with streamer Hasan Piker and the outside PAC ad on Israel funding: 'I do not stand with Hasan Piker, who gets trafficked on our college campuses,' Stevens said. Rogers and El-Sayed are contesting the seat of retiring Sen. Gary Peters; the RealClearPolling average carried in Sunday's coverage put El-Sayed ahead 49.1 to 45.6 before the endorsement. Every statement above is carried as its speaker's own, attributed to the accounts read this cycle.