Democratic congresswoman for Michigan Haley Stevens, who lost the Senate primaries to Abdul el Sayed, has announced her official endorsement of Republican Mike Rogers, also a member of the House of Representatives and El Sayed’s direct rival in the Senate race. The appointment with the ballot boxes will take place next Tuesday, November 3, in the context of the midterm elections.
In a video circulated on social media, Stevens explains the reasons for her political turn: "Our Democratic candidate for the Senate, Abdul, has said that I am no longer welcome in his campaign and that I should step aside. And he is right. And that is why today I support Mike Rogers for the United States Senate".
The congresswoman criticizes El Sayed’s closeness to the left-wing commentator and activist Hasan Piker and suggests that the Democrat’s campaign is fueled by "hatred". "My campaign said that it was a love letter to Michigan and I am here to proclaim what we are as Michigan people", she has emphasized.
Stevens insists that her change of vote does not imply renouncing her political identity. "I remain a proud Democrat. I still believe in everything I have voted for and said and for which I have worked so hard and I will continue to do so (...). Go with God and I love you all very much!", she has stressed.
The political shock has had immediate consequences on her team: as soon as the support for Rogers became known, the congresswoman’s chief of staff, Justin German, has submitted his resignation.
"I am going to vote for Mike Rogers for the Senate"
Stevens explained to journalists, at the church she attended together with Rogers, that she not only publicly supports the Republican, but will give him her vote on Tuesday. "Abdul has made it clear that I am not welcome. 90 percent of my votes are for Democrats. I am going to vote for Mike Rogers for the Senate. We cannot defend hatred. We cannot be with Hasan Piker", she reiterated.
According to what she said, she made the decision that same morning of the announcement, as "a personal and private decision". "I got up in the morning and decided to go to church and I am here with the person I am going to vote for for the United States Senate and it is Mike Rogers", she explained in statements collected by the local Fox News affiliate.
The Democratic representative admits that her position may cause discomfort among party colleagues, since at the time she backed El Sayed after losing the primaries, but she maintains that it was he who "has chosen to close this campaign by saying that I am not welcome".
For Stevens, the change of course is linked to political principles: "This is about leadership and integrity. This is about looking in the mirror and seeing how the true Democrats support Rogers. There are voters who have said it publicly and others who have not. And that is fine. There will be people who agree with me and people who do not," she has said.
Despite everything, she insists that she is not leaving the Democratic Party. "Abdul has been running a campaign in which he has worked very hard. I do not want to undermine that. I just want to be honest about where I am and where my heart is this time," she has stated.
Rogers, for his part, has thanked the gesture of his new ally. He has assured that it "is an honor" to have her support and has emphasized: "It makes me happy to have won that vote. We have talked about the United States, about what is best for our country and about what is best for our state".
Trump praises Stevens's "courage"
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has quickly intervened to applaud the congresswoman's decision. In a message on social media, he has praised Stevens's "courage": "Wow. This is big! (...). With what she has done she has shown great loyalty, almost unprecedented, to the great people of Michigan. It is called courage and few people have it like Congresswoman Haley Stevens!".
Trump has recalled that Stevens is "a very respected Democrat" and has underlined that she "lost by a narrow margin in the primaries" against El Sayed. In his view, the congresswoman has important backing among voters in Michigan, "especially from our African American and Jewish population".
Later, in face-to-face statements, the president went further and described support for Rogers as "the smart thing". "El Sayed would destroy our country, so I think it was fantastic," he has assured. He has even hinted at his interest in bringing her into his ranks: "I would love to have Stevens in the Republican Party".
Photo in the church and clash over Israel
Before the formal announcement, an image circulated by Abby Ronson, a member of Rogers’s campaign team, had already set off political alarms. In the photograph, Rogers and Stevens can be seen together in a church, accompanied by the message: "It is happening right now: Congresswoman Halley Stevens is joining Mike Rogers in a Detroit church this morning". The text concludes with a direct appeal to the electorate: "We have a state to save, Michigan".
The snapshot comes after weeks of friction between Stevens and El Sayed over remarks by the latter about Israel and the decision to de facto exclude her from a recent campaign event, as various American media outlets have reported.
From El Sayed’s circle, they have responded harshly. On social media, the candidate wrote: "While Congresswoman Stevens seems to want to reopen the result of a primary from three months ago, we are focused on what matters: defeating Mike Rogers, making (Donald) Trump accountable and taking the money out of politics".
Stevens had already publicly criticized El Sayed’s reaction to an ad that linked Israel to the rise in prices of basic goods in the United States. El Sayed has shown himself to be in favor of cutting U.S. aid to Israel and directing those funds toward domestic policies, a stance that channeled millions in funding toward Stevens’s campaign, although it was not enough to prevent her defeat in the primaries.
After losing that internal contest, Stevens officially aligned herself with El Sayed. However, her fiancé, of Jewish faith, had recently stated that he would vote for Rogers, anticipating in part the fracture that has finally come to pass.