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Archive photo · 28 November 2018Haley Stevens Endorses Mike Rogers After Abdulrahman Al-Sayed Event Cancellation in Michigan
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Haley Stevens endorsed Republican Mike Rogers in the Michigan Senate race. Endorsement followed tense clashes with Abdul El-Sayed, Stevens' former Democratic rival.
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12 outlets told this the same way.
Stevens backs Rogers
Democratic congresswoman Haley Stevens endorsed Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers in Michigan on Sunday, appearing alongside Rogers inside a church in Detroit after her invitation to a joint event with Abdulrahman Al-Sayed was canceled. Stevens told reporters, "I don't belong in Abdul's campaign," and she added, "That's why I am endorsing Mike Rogers," as the Democratic spat escalated just days before Election Day. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed downplayed the significance of her support, telling reporters, "At the end of the day I don't think about Haley Stevens," and he said, "None of this matters."
Chuck Schumer described Stevens’s endorsement as a betrayal, writing on social media, "This is a betrayal by Stevens." Stevens’s move came after she was excluded from participating in a joint event scheduled for Sunday with Abdul Rahman Said, whom she narrowly defeated in the August primary, and after she had criticized Abdul Rahman Said’s statements about Israel.
Party fallout and church
Democratic leaders condemned Stevens’s decision as the Michigan Democratic Party chair Curtis Hertel said her endorsement "shows that she has abandoned everything she claims to care about." El-Sayed told reporters that he was focused on issues facing Michiganders, saying, "At the end of the day I actually don't think about Haley Stevens," and he added, "None of this matters." Stevens appeared with Rogers after she told reporters, "This is a very close election, we all know that," and she said Abdul made clear she was "not welcome in his campaign" and that he "didn't need me there."
Rogers welcomed Stevens’s endorsement and said it showed "courage" during brief remarks with reporters, while President Donald Trump echoed that sentiment on Truth Social, saying, "[Stevens] showed great and almost unprecedented loyalty". CNN reported that Democrats closed ranks around El-Sayed’s Senate bid after Stevens endorsed the GOP nominee, and it quoted El-Sayed telling reporters, "I actually don't think about Haley Stevens," as the party leadership signaled support for his campaign.
What is at stake
The Michigan Senate race sits at the center of the balance of power in Congress, with the BBC describing it as a contest that could determine which party controls the Senate and noting the seat is currently held by a retiring Democrat. The BBC also said the last time a Republican was elected to this Senate seat was in 1994, and it framed Michigan as a crucial swing state where Michigan voted for Joe Biden in 2020 but Donald Trump in 2024. CNN said a federal judge threw out a Justice Department lawsuit seeking to potentially delay the certification of Alaska’s Senate race, describing it as a blow to attempts to meddle in the 2026 midterms.
“This election is too important to sow division or stand on the sidelines.”
The Guardian reported that Neera Tanden wrote on X that standing with Mike Rogers was "a betrayal of everything Haley Stevens has fought for her entire career," while Michigan Democratic Party chair Curtis Hertel said the party would not allow "eleventh-hour distractions" to deter the campaign. The Guardian also reported that Stevens’s chief of staff Justin German released a statement endorsing Abdul El-Sayed, saying, "This election is too important to sow division or stand on the sidelines."