Democratic Representative Haley Stevens lost the primary for the Senate seat in Michigan. Her petulance over losing might cost Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed the election and with it Democratic control of the U.S. Senate. She had roiled the race prior to the weekend, publicly demanding El-Sayed meet certain conditions before she’d campaign with him. It had pundits tongues wagging that Rogers, who was back on his heels might mount a last minute surge. As of today Stevens has moved from openly criticizing El-Sayed to fully endorsing Republican nominee Mike Rogers.
It should be noted that although Stevens had earlier endorsed El-Sayed and had even made some appearances with him she wasn’t exactly singing his praises. I get it. It hurts to lose and she lost more than the Senate nomination. She will also be losing her seat in the House of Representatives having chosen instead to try to move up to the Senate. Stevens still had a future in the Democratic Party having done more than serve as an elected official as her Wikipedia page notes. So for a while at least she (if grudgingly) made nice and maintained the bridge between her and the Party. Now she’s gone and blown that bridge up, and with it her future. This article from the Detroit News details what happened:
Stevens of Birmingham, who lost the Democratic primary to El-Sayed, appeared with Rogers at a service of Perfecting Church on Nevada Avenue on Detroit’s east side around 11:20 a.m. It was “family and friends day” at the church. Then, about an hour later, she issued a public endorsement of Rogers on social media and addressed reporters outside of the church.
Stevens says she’s still a proud Democrat. That claim doesn’t bear much looking in to:
She told reporters it was a “personal and private decision” to vote for Rogers. However, her fiancé, Jason Turkish, a Huntington Woods lawyer, said on Oct. 28 that he planned to vote for Rogers, citing frustrations about El-Sayed’s rhetoric about Israel and not speaking out more strongly against antisemitism.
“I am one vote in this state,” Stevens said. “… Even my own mother cast her vote for Mike Rogers, as my father cast his vote for Abdul. … But Abdul made very clear that I was not welcome in his campaign.”
Stevens has in recent days presented El-Sayed’s campaign as one of hate. If you scroll down in the linked Wikipedia profile to the Israel section the gulf between her and El-Sayed becomes apparent. She’s a pro-Israel as it gets, but if you’ve followed El-Sayed’s campaign it’s clear he believes (as do many others) there need to be more conditions on aid to Israel. To many folks in the U.S. anything less than complete endorsement of anything Israel does, almost on the level of MAGA support for Trump is “hatred” of Israel.
(For the record I believe Israel has both a right to exist and also to defend itself. The question for me has for decades, dating back to issues of the IDF taunting my Marine Corps troops at the airport in Beirut prior to the 1984 Barracks bombing been how Israel has sometimes done so. That’s a longer topic but I know full well how it feels to be anti semitic or hating Jews for expressing criticism of Israeli policy/actions. Even when it’s mild criticism I don’t hate Israel. I do however know they’ve spent literally their entire history since the United States became the first country to recognize the State of Israel they have reneged on promises/written agreements to establish a Palestinian State in the West Bank)
Even prior to Stevens’ stunning endorsement of Rogers pundits were talking about how her public clash with El-Sayed might be a case of Democrats ‘snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.’ No one had been saying El-Sayed had it in the bag but consensus was the odds in favor of Democrats holding onto that Senate seat were pretty good. Stevens had kept her political and personal hurt buried, but for some reason showed it last week. It’s a safe bet that since her feelings were pretty well known privately in political circles both Republicans and AIPAC decided to make a play. Maybe not on the level of Musk and others to help Paxton in Texas but enough to split Stevens from the Democratic Party.
And despite her claim of still being a Democrat she HAS split away whether she realizes it or not. I said earlier she’d basically blown up the bridge over what was a chasm between her and her (old) Party and tonight I can’t help but wonder if she thought it through. Stevens staff feel betrayed and are now former staff as we learn from The Daily Beast:
Current and former staff are furious after she announced she was backing MAGA candidate Mike Rogers just two days ahead of Election Day. The bombshell announcement came after she’d spent months supporting Abdul El-Sayed following his August primary victory, and warning voters against the “harmful agenda” pursued by Rogers.
Now Stevens is saying Rogers is the ‘good guy’ and El-Sayed is the ‘harmful’ one. Ten buck says Stevens was certain her staff would back her up and that via them she could still be a player in the Michigan Democratic Party. She was wrong:
German, and communications director, Logan Basch, both immediately resigning.
German released a statement “on behalf” of the entire office saying they were “shocked and heartbroken” by her last-minute endorsement.
“As of this morning, many members of our team have resigned, including myself. We encourage everyone to exercise their civic duty, vote for Abdul and Democrats up and down the ballot, and stand up for the America we all believe in,” the statement said in part.
It’s not just her current staff that’s denouncing her and walking away. Steven’s former Senate staff are furious with her too and saying so. For example the communications director on her Senate campaign, Arik Wolk, trashed her on social media calling Stevens shocking endorsement of Rogers “ridiculous and pathetic”:
“Many amazing staffers went to work for Haley Stevens to fight for shared democratic values and keep this Senate seat blue. Some of those incredible people are now working their a–es off to elect Abdul,” he posted. “There are two Supreme Court seats…and so many other values Haley claimed to care about on the line. By endorsing Mike Rogers, she has betrayed all those values.”
It gets worse for Stevens as other groups are speaking out against her. Other groups include the actual Michigan Democratic Party. Curtis Hertel, the head of the state’s Party tweeted “Congresswoman Stevens is not a current member of the Michigan Democratic Party, nor will she be in the future. In another tweet he’s asked about it and boy did he slam the door on Stevens and nail it shut:
Michigan Democratic Party chair Curtis Hertel says Haley Stevens abandoned the Democratic Party and is no longer a member of the state party. He criticizes Stevens for rolling out her Mike Rogers endorsement in Detroit, and says she betrayed her supporters. pic.twitter.com/8i8zZp5oW5
— Sam Robinson (@samueljrob) November 1, 2026
For his part El-Sayed is saying simply he’s not thinking about Stevens. Frankly, I believe the less he says about her and what’s happened the better. Stevens’ staff which I assume works where she’s based which is the only part of Michigan that decisively chose her over El-Sayed will in these last couple of days be reinforcing what Hertel said in the clip above. I heard Michael Steele say on MS NOW earlier this evening Steven’s act might make a point or two difference in the race. Will that be enough to change the outcome and flip a blue seat red? We’ll have to wait and see.
Democrats have a real shot at retaking control of the Senate. It’s been noted ad nauseum since the beginning of the year Democrats needed a net gain of four seats and that it would be a tall task to accomplish. In the past couple of months that narrative has shifted and in the last month it’s clear Republicans are playing a lot more defense than anyone (including Democrats) expected at the beginning of the summer. Still, gaining at least four seats was predicated on Democrats not losing any seats the Party currently holds.
It’s also worth mentioning a four seat net gain only gets the Senate to 51 Democrats (or Independents that caucus with us) and a lot of eyes will be on Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman who increasing channels former West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin. Fetterman might ‘only’ declare himself Independent but if he caucuses with Republicans or sides with them on every important vote (including confirmation votes) that effectively makes the Senate 50-50 with Vance as the tie breaker.
In other words we need at least 52 seats to be sure of control. Haley Stevens has put that at risk. If Michigan stays blue and strengthens its position Stevens might try to become a Republican. However if her name is mud back in her home state she won’t be much use to them, and find herself consigned to political oblivion. Let’s hope that’s exactly what happpens.
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