Democrat Haley Stevens Endorses the Republican in Michigan's Senate Race, Two Days Before the Midterms
The congresswoman who lost her party's nomination appeared beside Republican Mike Rogers on Sunday and backed him over Democrat Abdul El-Sayed — and her own staff began resigning within hours.
A Democratic congresswoman endorsed the Republican candidate in Michigan's Senate race on Sunday, two days before a midterm election in which her party needs a net gain of four seats to take control of the Senate. Rep. Haley Stevens, who lost the Democratic nomination to Abdul El-Sayed, appeared alongside Republican Mike Rogers and then explained herself in a video posted to X: "I don't belong in Abdul's campaign," she said, adding, "That's why I am endorsing Mike Rogers."
The reaction inside her own party was immediate. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the endorsement "a despicable betrayal," and retiring Sen. Gary Peters, whose seat is at stake, said he was "extremely disappointed." Stevens's chief of staff, Justin German, said he and several other members of her House staff were resigning over the decision. El-Sayed, who beat Stevens in the August primary by less than one percentage point and had received her endorsement right after it, had not commented on Sunday, and polling estimates still showed him leading Rogers by nearly four points.
At his Iowa rally on Sunday, President Donald Trump invited Stevens to join the Republican Party and said he would reach out to thank her. Michigan currently sends a Democrat to the seat, and a Republican win there — the party last won a Michigan Senate election in 1994 — would force Democrats to flip five other seats to take the chamber. Whether the endorsement moves voters in the final 48 hours is the open question the race now carries into Tuesday.
