Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) endorsed Republican Mike Rogers for Senate in Michigan on Sunday, bucking her support for Democrat Abdul el Sayed after a dayslong feud.
“Our Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, Abdul, said that I was no longer welcome in his campaign and that I should stay away. And he’s right, and that’s why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States Senate today. I don’t belong in Abdul’s campaign. I do not stand with Hasan Piker, who gets trafficked on our college campuses,” Stevens said.
Just an hour before, Stevens appeared at a church service in Detroit with Rogers after sparring with Democratic candidate el Sayed over the weekend.
Stevens had originally announced on Friday that she had accepted an invitation from Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) to appear at a church service in Detroit with el Sayed, but the plan fell through as Stevens and el Sayed continued to grapple over an advertisement that Jewish leaders have condemned as antisemitic. The ad, produced by Rebellion PAC, blames the high cost of groceries on U.S. financial support for Israel.
Stevens endorsed el Sayed after losing to the left-wing candidate in a heated Democratic primary, but the two continued to clash over their stances on Israel, with Stevens being staunchly pro-Israel and el Sayed supporting Gaza and criticizing Israel’s government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“That is a policy that Mike is going to take on,” Stevens said as she emphasized her support for black-owned businesses while walking into Perfecting Church in Detroit, hand-in-hand with Rogers, per a video from local reporter Sam Robinson.
El Sayed’s campaign asked Stevens to stay away from his remaining campaign events on Saturday as the two deepened their feud just days ahead of the toss-up Senate race.
Stevens had initially committed to the church appearance with el Sayed on Friday based on the idea that he would denounce the Rebellion PAC ad and apologize for criticisms he has made against Israel during his campaign. She made the announcement in a scathing statement on X.
El Sayed has distanced himself from the Rebellion PAC ad that supported his candidacy, saying he was not associated with it.
“The ad did not invent its argument; it dramatized one Dr. El-Sayed has made in his own words throughout this campaign: that Israel is the reason Michigan cannot afford schools, health care, and child care. The standard here is simple. If those words are wrong when a Political Action Committee supporting his campaign says them, then they are equally wrong when Abdul says them, and Abdul has said them from the start,” Stevens said Friday.
El Sayed then rebuked her statement, saying Stevens was trying to “relitigate” their primary.
“While Congresswoman Stevens seems intent on relitigating a primary that ended three months ago, let’s all focus on the task at hand: that’s beating Mike Rogers, holding Trump accountable, and getting money out of politics, putting money in pockets, and passing Medicare for All,” el Sayed said.
DEMOCRATS’ SELF-INFLICTED WOUNDS THREATEN HIGH-STAKES MICHIGAN SENATE RACE
The Washington Examiner has reached out to el Sayed’s campaign for comment.
Communication director for the Democrats’ Senate Majority PAC, Lauren French, called Stevens’s appearance with Rogers “enraging,” but argued that “ultimately we have the power to turn this into nothing more than a distraction.”