DETROIT — Rep. Haley Stevens, a Democrat, rocked Michigan’s Senate race Sunday by endorsing Republican Mike Rogers, splintering the fragile coalition behind Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed two days before the election.
Declaring her support for Mr. Rogers in front of a Black church in downtown Detroit, Ms. Stevens, a party moderate who lost to Mr. El-Sayed in the primary, cited “hate” emerging from Mr. El-Sayed’s campaign.
“At some point, you’ve got to look at who’s standing for country,” Ms. Stevens said as Mr. Rogers looked on approvingly.
People were interested in these podcasts
Ms. Stevens and Mr. El-Sayed are in a bitter feud over Mr. El-Sayed’s outspoken criticism of Israel and his refusal to firmly distance himself from antisemitic groups and individuals. Among them is far-left streamer and self-identified anti-Zionist Hasan Piker, who faced intense criticism for saying America deserved the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
During the Oct. 8 candidates’ debate, Mr. El-Sayed refused to say whether Israel or Iran posed a greater threat to the United States. He called the question “a ridiculous hypothetical.”
The simmering animosity between Ms. Stevens and Mr. El-Sayed boiled over Saturday after Mr. El-Sayed disinvited her from a ’Democratic unity’ event slated for Sunday at Northend Church of God in Christ in Detroit. The event was planned to court Black voters whom Mr. El-Sayed critically needs to win Tuesday.
Ms. Stevens was told by Mr. El-Sayed’s campaign staff to stay clear of all his events, according to aides familiar with the conversations.
So, instead of showing up at Northend Church on Sunday, Ms. Stevens appeared 6 miles across town at a different Black church with Mr. Rogers.
“My vote for Senate is going to be with Mike Rogers, and I will tell you why. Because we have to stand with country. We can’t stand with hate. We can’t stand with Hasan Piker,” Ms. Stevens said after attending church services with Mr. Rogers.
President Trump cheered Ms. Stevens’ decision to cross party lines, calling her “very brave.”
“I have great respect for her,” Mr. Trump said.
Mr. El-Sayed, appearing at a different Black church across town with Rep. James Clyburn, South Carolina Democrat, brushed off the endorsement, saying he is focused on how policy can uplift people — not political drama. “None of this matters,” he said.
Still, the Stevens defection stunned Democrats.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, who supported Ms. Stevens’ primary bid, called the endorsement “a despicable betrayal.”
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, Michigan Democrat, who has campaigned with Mr. El-Sayed, said Ms. Stevens is getting in the way of putting checks on the Trump-led Republican Party and “saving the middle class.”
Others said Ms. Stevens effectively ended her future in Democratic politics.
“The fallout for Haley won’t just be in Dem politics; she will be a pariah among her friends in the Democratic caucus in Congress. Only she will be able to decide whether it was worth it,” former Rep. Susan Wild, Pennsylvania Democrat, posted on X.
The Michigan race is among the closest Senate battles in the country and pivotal to Democrats seeking to gain control of Congress.
Ms. Stevens’ last-minute and very public betrayal threatened to peel away Black and Jewish voters who are already on the fence about Mr. El-Sayed, the most pro-Palestinian candidate for Senate who has also campaigned alongside Mr. Piker.
According to U.S. Census Bureau data, just over 1% of Michigan voters are Jewish, and about 11.5% are Black.
Polls show the race is a toss-up.
Ms. Stevens, speaking to reporters Sunday, said, “This is a very close election,” but added that she decided to back the Republican candidate after Mr. El-Sayed “made it very clear that I was not welcome in his campaign. He didn’t need me there, that he didn’t want me there.”
The bombshell stole some of the thunder away from Mr. El-Sayed’s appearance with Mr. Clyburn, a senior House Democratic leader, 6 miles away at Northend Church of God in Christ, where they held a “Souls to the Polls” event targeting Black voters.
Mr. El-Sayed ordered reporters not to ask about Ms. Stevens’ surprise endorsement. He called it a distraction that did not matter to him.
“At the end of the day, I actually don’t think of Haley Stevens,” Mr. El-Sayed said. “I think about the 9,999,998 people who are not those two. Because you know what? I’m just less interested in the politics of it all than I am in the policy of it all.”
Mr. Clyburn insisted Saturday that the invitation to Ms. Stevens to join them at Northend Church was still open, but Mr. El-Sayed told reporters he was not interested in a joint appearance with his former primary opponent.
“I’ve been very clear that I would rather not distract from the key issues of this campaign, and those are getting money out of politics, money in your pocket and Medicare for All,” Mr. El-Sayed said Saturday after a campaign rally. “I don’t want a distraction.”
Ms. Stevens made no move to reconcile with Mr. El-Sayed. Last week, she renewed her criticism that Mr. El-Sayed had not been forceful enough in condemning an online ad from Rebellion PAC, a group led by liberal commentator Cenk Uygur. The ad blamed Israel for high U.S. grocery prices.
The fight spilled back into public view Friday. Ms. Stevens announced she would attend the Detroit church event with Mr. El-Sayed but said he had not fully accounted for past comments about Israel and the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip — comments that divided them during the primary.
Her comments did not go over well with Mr. El-Sayed.
“Congresswoman Stevens seems intent on relitigating a primary that ended three months ago,” he said Friday on X.
According to campaign finance disclosures, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and its affiliated super PAC, the United Democracy Project, spent more than $30 million on behalf of Ms. Stevens in the primary race.
Speaking from the sanctuary at the Northend Church, Mr. El-Sayed linked his candidacy to a tradition of Black political empowerment.
He invoked former President Barack Obama and boxing legend and civil rights icon Muhammad Ali while arguing that Republican attacks on his Muslim faith and Arab name are meant to distract from voters’ economic concerns.
He recounted how he once believed “people like me don’t get to run for office” because of his name until Mr. Obama won the presidency. He also recalled attending Ali’s funeral years later, describing the boxing legend as “the first person who ever showed me what it looked like to be proud of my name.”
Mr. El-Sayed used these stories to argue that the election should focus less on cultural grievances and more on what he characterized as failed Republican policies.
“Me and my name and my faith are not the reason you can’t afford your gas,” he told the crowd, repeating the line for groceries, healthcare and environmental pollution before concluding: “It is their policies that are doing that.”
• Susan Ferrechio reported from Fort Worth, Texas.
Contact the author
Please read our comment policy before commenting.