Michigan Democrat Haley Stevens’ shocking last-minute endorsement of Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers sparked fierce backlash from members of her party.
Stevens, who narrowly lost the Democratic Senate primary to Abdul El-Sayed, announced his support for Rogers after a feud with El-Sayed’s campaign over a campaign ad from an outside group that blamed the high cost of living on U.S. support for Israel.
Stevens had said she would show up at a campaign event if he denounced the ad, but El-Sayed’s campaign disinvited her.
Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader and Democrat from New York, called the decision a “despicable betrayal.”
“Senate Democrats are united in our support for Abdul El-Sayed because we know he will fight for the economic interests of Michigan’s working families, unlike Mike Rogers, who is a tool of Donald Trump and billionaire donors,” Schumer said on social media.
Nancy Pelosi, a representative from California, posted that Stevens had “chosen to dangerously betray the health care, freedoms and future of Michigan families with his horrible support.”
Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York, also said that “workers’ lives are at stake on Tuesday.”
“Haley Stevens just betrayed them by supporting the Republican she said she wanted to run against,” Mamdani posted.
Curtis Hertel, chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, said in a message that Stevens was not a member of the party “and will not be in the future.”
A Detroit reporter, Sam Robinson, shared a video in which Hertel was asked why he thought Stevens made the endorsement.
“Obviously there are sour grapes in the election, but there’s no reasonable explanation for it. I’ve known Haley Stevens for a long time and I know what she fought for over the course of her career, and this is the antithesis of all that,” Hertel said.
Michigan Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell said state residents are concerned about the cost of living, health care and housing.
“This is what they are talking about, not Congresswoman Stevens’s continued efforts to get attention,” she said in a statement.
While some Democratic and Jewish leaders also condemned the El-Sayed ad, congressional candidates Brad Lander and Daniel Bliss, both Jewish and Democrats, released a statement Sunday encouraging voters to support El-Sayed. They didn’t mention Stevens.
“In the final days of this election, we must remember the true choice of this race,” the statement read. “One candidate represents a party that has stoked hatred, gutted anti-discrimination efforts, and remained silent in the face of President Trump’s corruption and authoritarianism. The other represents the promise of accountability, affordability, and the fight for a fairer, more just, and more democratic future.”
Meanwhile, Trump praised Stevens’ support for Rogers on his Truth Social platform and described her as a “well-respected Democrat.” He continued to support Stevens at a campaign rally Sunday in Dubuque, Iowa, even going so far as to welcome him to join the Republican Party.
“I would love for her to join the Republican Party, in fact, I think maybe that could happen. But she has shown great and almost unprecedented loyalty to the great people of Michigan,” Trump said.
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