Michigan Democrat Haley Stevens Endorses Republican Mike Rogers Days Before Midterms

Democratic Representative Haley Stevens endorsed Republican Mike Rogers for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat on Sunday, two days before Election Day. Stevens, who lost the Democratic primary to Abdul El-Sayed in August by a single percentage point, stood with Rogers outside a church in Detroit and released a video statement. She said El-Sayed had told her she was no longer welcome in his campaign and should stay away, and that this was why she was now backing Rogers.

The move prompted immediate resignations from members of Stevens’s own staff, including her chief of staff. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called the endorsement a despicable betrayal. President Donald Trump described it as bravery. Stevens told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that her decision was “rock solid” but declined to give a detailed explanation of the switch. She has long identified as a centrist and a strong supporter of Israel; she and El-Sayed had clashed during the primary over his positions on the issue.

Michigan’s Senate race is one of the contests that will determine control of the chamber. Republicans currently hold a slim majority. Democrats need a net gain of four seats to retake the Senate. The seat is held by a retiring Democrat. Michigan voted for Joe Biden in 2020 and for Trump in 2024. The last Republican to win a Michigan Senate race was in 1994. Recent New York Times/Siena polls showed El-Sayed leading Rogers 53 percent to 42 percent among likely voters. Other surveys had shown a narrower edge. Roughly two million of Michigan’s seven million registered voters had already cast early or mail ballots before the endorsement.

Stevens’s primary loss left her with about 730,000 voters who had supported her. Her decision to cross party lines removes those voters’ expected support from the Democratic nominee at the final moment. El-Sayed has been associated with progressive figures; Stevens specifically mentioned commentator Hasan Piker as someone she would not stand with. The endorsement also arrives as Democrats hold leads in five of seven key battleground Senate races according to the same New York Times/Siena polling, with no clear leader in the remaining two.

The practical effect on Tuesday’s outcome remains uncertain because so many votes are already cast. Party organizations and outside groups had spent heavily on the assumption of a unified Democratic ticket. The staff resignations and public rebukes from national Democratic leaders indicate that the break will carry internal consequences beyond this race. Rogers, a former congressman, has campaigned as a Trump-aligned candidate. Stevens’s appearance with him on Sunday made the shift visible in real time.

Michigan voters who cast ballots early will not be able to change them. Those who vote on Tuesday now face a Democratic nominee whose former primary rival has publicly switched sides. The episode adds a late variable to a contest that had already been treated as close by both parties. Final certified results will show whether the endorsement moved any measurable share of undecided or crossover voters in a state that has swung between the parties in recent presidential cycles.