Haley Stevens Endorses Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan Senate Race

Democratic U.S. Representative Haley Stevens endorsed Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers in Michigan on 1 November 2026, two days before the midterm election. Stevens, who narrowly lost the Democratic primary to Abdul El-Sayed in August, posted a video on social media after appearing with Rogers at Perfecting Church in Detroit.

“Hey Michigan, as you may have seen, 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,” Stevens said. She added that she does not stand with left-wing streamer Hasan Piker, who had appeared with El-Sayed earlier in the cycle, and that “who we are as Michiganders is not hate.”

Stevens and Rogers addressed reporters outside the church. Stevens said she remained a Democrat and expected the party to win a Senate majority, but that her personal vote for Senate would go to Rogers because “we have to stand with country.” Her fiancé, Jason Turkish, has also said he plans to vote for Rogers and attended an event with Rogers and Senator Ted Cruz the previous week.

The endorsement followed a public feud. Stevens had called on El-Sayed to condemn an outside advertisement that linked U.S. military aid to Israel with rising grocery prices, which she described as antisemitic. El-Sayed rejected the ad’s contents. Party leaders had tried to arrange a unity appearance; El-Sayed’s campaign indicated Stevens was not welcome. Stevens said she had been booed off the stage at an earlier event after endorsing El-Sayed following the primary.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the endorsement a “despicable betrayal” and condemned attacks on El-Sayed. Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin described it as a betrayal of Democratic Party values. Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel said Stevens had abandoned the issues she claimed to care about by campaigning with a candidate who supports a national abortion ban and Trump’s agenda.

Rogers said he was honored by the support and that the two had spoken by phone that morning. The race is one of the closest Senate contests of the cycle and could help determine control of the chamber. El-Sayed told reporters he does not think about Stevens and that the primary is over. Stevens had been heavily backed by the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm in the primary.

The cross-party endorsement arrives at the final weekend of campaigning. Michigan voters will decide the seat on 3 November. The public split has drawn national attention and forced both campaigns to respond to a development that neither side had anticipated only days earlier.

Stevens has said that 90 percent of the votes she casts in the House will still be with Democrats. The Senate race, she said, is a separate choice about the direction of the state. Whether the endorsement moves any measurable number of voters remains to be seen once ballots are counted.