Haley Stevens endorses Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan Senate race

Democratic U.S. Representative Haley Stevens endorsed Republican Mike Rogers for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat on November 1, appearing with him at Perfecting Church in Detroit and posting a video statement the same day. Stevens lost the August Democratic primary to Abdul El-Sayed and had previously said she would support the nominee.

In the video, Stevens said El-Sayed told her she was no longer welcome in his campaign and should stay away. “And he’s right, and that’s why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States Senate today,” she stated. She added that she does not stand with Hasan Piker, a commentator who had campaigned with El-Sayed earlier. Rogers said he was honored by the endorsement and that the two had spoken by phone that morning.

The move followed weeks of public friction. Stevens had pressed El-Sayed to disavow an outside advertisement that linked U.S. military aid to Israel with rising grocery prices, which she called antisemitic. El-Sayed rejected the ad’s content. On the weekend before the election he indicated she was not welcome at a planned unity event. Stevens said she had been booed off the stage at an earlier party event after endorsing him post-primary.

Democratic leaders condemned the endorsement. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called it a “despicable betrayal.” Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin described it as a betrayal of party values. Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel said Stevens had abandoned the issues she claimed to care about and rejected attempts to divide the party two days before voting.

Rogers, a former representative, is the Republican nominee in a race that could help decide control of the Senate. Republicans currently hold a narrow majority. Stevens said she remains a Democrat and that most of her votes will still be with the party, but that her Senate vote would go to Rogers because “we have to stand with country.” She described the decision as one about Michigan rather than party.

The primary in August had been competitive. Stevens received significant support from the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm yet finished behind El-Sayed. The cross-party endorsement arrives as both campaigns make final pushes. Early and mail voting is already under way in Michigan. The public appearance at a predominantly Black church in Detroit supplied Rogers with a visual that his campaign can use in the closing days.

Whether the endorsement moves measurable numbers of voters remains to be seen in the returns. The episode illustrates the residual divisions from the primary and the sensitivity of Israel-related messaging inside the Democratic coalition in this cycle. Rogers welcomed the support as a statement against hate and for the state’s future. El-Sayed’s campaign and state party officials treated it as an unwelcome distraction rather than a substantive shift in the race.