Haley Stevens defends endorsement switch to Republican Mike Rogers over Democrat Abdul El-Sayed

A public feud between Stevens, a centrist Democrat, and El-Sayed, who represents the party’s left wing, has boiled over in recent days.

Stevens gave her endorsement to Rogers just two days before the election – making a surprise appearance alongside the Republican on Sunday.

“I don’t belong in Abdul’s campaign,” she said in a video posted to X shortly afterwards. “Who we are as Michiganders is not hate,” and then went on to say: “That’s why I am endorsing Mike Rogers,” Stevens said.

The move stunned many of her fellow party members, who condemned her decision to switch her support just two days before the election.

Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the US Senate, called it “despicable betrayal”, and many of the Stevens staff reportedly resigned immediately after her announcement.

Michigan Democratic Party chair Curtis Hertel wrote on X that Stevens is “not a current member of the Michigan Democratic Party, nor will she be in the future”.

Republicans, meanwhile, applauded the move. Rogers himself said the move showed “courage”, and Trump agreed that Stevens had been “very brave”.

Stevens’s schedule for Sunday initially involved her appearing at an event alongside El-Sayed, but she was reportedly asked by him not to come earlier in the weekend.

As Stevens instead made her appearance alongside Rogers, she said: “This is a very close election, we all know that, but Abdul made clear that I was not welcome in his campaign, that he didn’t need me there, that he didn’t want me there.”

When asked about Stevens’ endorsement, El-Sayed told reporters he was focused on the problems that were facing people in the state.

“At the end of the day, I don’t think about Haley Stevens,” he said on Sunday. “None of this matters.”