Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., endorsed Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers on Sunday, a major shake-up in the final stages of a top battleground race that could determine which party controls the Senate.
“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,” Stevens said in a video.
“And he’s right, and that’s why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States Senate today,” she said. “I don’t belong in Abdul’s campaign.”
Stevens’ announcement marks a whirlwind turnaround from just days ago, when she said she would support her party’s ticket and planned to attend a campaign event Sunday to support Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.
But leading up to the rally, Stevens and El-Sayed released dueling critical public statements, prompting concerns among Democrats that the spat was a distraction from what is widely seen as one of the most competitive Senate races.
Stevens had said she expected El-Sayed to condemn an ad from an outside group that she said was antisemitic. El-Sayed responded by accusing Stevens of being “intent on relitigating a primary that ended three months ago.”
The winner of Tuesday’s election will succeed Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, who is not seeking another term.
NBC News reported Saturday that El-Sayed’s campaign had asked Stevens to no longer attend campaign events following the dueling statements.
In her endorsement video, which was less than two minutes long, Stevens referred to El-Sayed’s ties to Hasan Piker, who has appeared with him at campaign events.
“I do not stand with Hasan Piker, who gets trafficked on our college campuses,” she said. “A dear friend of mine earlier today was saying that education is the ballot, and she’s absolutely right. And what our students see, what our children see and who we are as Michiganders is not hate and is not what we are getting out from our Democratic nominee right now.”
Stevens said she was “still a very proud Democrat.”
Sunday afternoon, Curtis Hertel, chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, wrote on X that Stevens “is not a current member of the Michigan Democratic Party, nor will she be in the future.”
Speaking with reporters shortly after she posted her endorsement, Stevens reiterated that El-Sayed “made very clear that I was not welcome in his campaign.”
“At some point, you got to look at who’s standing for country,” she added later.
NBC News has reached out to El-Sayed’s and Rogers’ campaigns for comment on Stevens’ endorsement.
Speaking to reporters after Stevens, Rogers said he was “honored” to have her support. He said that sometimes “the hate grows so loud that it jeopardizes some of our citizens in this state.”
He referred to Jews hiding symbols of their faith and being “harassed for being Jewish.”
“This is more a statement about standing together against hate and the future of this state and this country than it is anything else,” Rogers said. “And I just want you to know: She reminded me at the end of the call, ‘Remember, I’m still a Democrat.’”
Speaking Sunday night with Anderson Cooper on CNN, Stevens called her endorsement of Rogers “a weight off my shoulders,” saying her decision came down to “Abdul getting angrier and angrier.”
Pressed multiple times by Cooper about what changed her mind since her past statements that she would support El-Sayed, Stevens did not point to anything specific. She also did not say whether she told Rep. Debbie Dingell, a senior Democrat in the Michigan delegation, that she would not endorse Rogers.
Dingell expressed concern for Stevens in an interview with Cooper immediately after his conversation with Stevens, saying Stevens had told her “multiple times” that she would not endorse Rogers.
“That was one of the most painful interviews I have ever watched,” Dingell said. “I have been worried about her all last week. She’s a human being. I’ve had multiple conversations with her. I’m far from being the only one that has. I’m very concerned that this has all become a distraction.”
On Sunday, El-Sayed addressed reporters ahead of a unity event alongside other Democrats. He said that Michigan is “a state of 10 million people who deserve a lot better from their government” and that he was “a lot more focused on the 9,999,998 that are not the ones you guys are talking about.”
Asked later about Stevens, El-Sayed said, “At the end of the day, I actually don’t think about Haley Stevens,” going on to contrast his campaign with Rogers’.
President Donald Trump praised Stevens for her endorsement, saying at a rally in Dubuque, Iowa, Sunday that she had been “brave.”
“I don’t know Haley. I’ve never met Haley, but Haley said what few people are willing to say,” Trump said. “I’d love her to join the Republican Party. Actually, I think that could happen, maybe.”
Stevens announced her endorsement after she appeared alongside Rogers at a church in Detroit, Rogers spokesperson Abby Ronson confirmed.
“Mike welcomes her,” Ronson told NBC News ahead of Stevens’ endorsement.
Stevens’ criticism of El-Sayed, her onetime primary opponent, and her appearance alongside Rogers on Sunday have infuriated Democratic allies of El-Sayed, who have spent the weekend responding to her criticisms of the party’s candidate in the crucial window before Election Day.
Even within her own congressional office, Stevens’ decision to endorse Rogers appeared to have quick ripple effects.
A person familiar with the matter confirmed that Stevens’ longtime chief of staff, Justin German, and several other staff members are resigning over her decision to endorse Rogers.
In a statement, German said his team was “shocked and heartbroken by Congresswoman Stevens’ decision to support Mike Rogers.”
“As of this morning, many members of our team have resigned, including myself,” he said later in the statement. “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.”
Beyond her office, the Democratic National Committee’s Black Caucus chair, Virgie Rollins, excoriated Stevens, saying in a statement that she “revealed herself to be a sellout who used Black Michiganders for a political stunt.”
“Congresswoman Stevens has lost her way, and Michiganders know that Mike Rogers is a shill for Trump and has failed Michigan,” Rollins said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who supported Stevens in the primary but endorsed El-Sayed after his primary victory, said in a statement that “Senate Democrats are united in our support for Abdul El-Sayed.” He said the move was “a despicable betrayal from Rep. Stevens.”
El-Sayed “will fight for the economic interests of working families in Michigan, unlike Mike Rogers, who is a tool of Donald Trump and billionaire donors,” Schumer wrote in a social media post.
Michigan’s other Democratic senator, Elissa Slotkin, chastised Stevens on X on Sunday afternoon.
“I was knocking doors in Sterling Heights yesterday and to a house, those folks were hyper-focused on how expensive everything in their life seems to be, and they’re desperately worried — often in tears — about the future for their kids,” Slotkin wrote. “And it is for that reason that I have avoided commenting on the actions of Congresswoman Haley Stevens until now.”
Slotkin then added, referring to Stevens: “So anyone who makes an election this important about themselves, and not Michiganders and our democracy, should think hard about whether they are serving the greater good.”
Similarly, Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet, who opted not to run for the open Senate seat, urged supporters to back El-Sayed.
“Michigan, I am the only House Democrat from our state representing a district won by President Trump,” she said on X. “I am voting for @AbdulElSayed, and I encourage you to do the same.”
A Democratic operative who has worked in Michigan questioned why more state Democratic leaders were not immediately coming out hard against Stevens’ move.
“Ask yourself where is Gretchen Whitmer right now,” this person said. “What is she doing?”
Whitmer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“No one’s quite sure what’s going on here, but the party has basically said if you’re a surrogate, go on the attack against her [Stevens] right now,” this person added.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said earlier Sunday, before Stevens’ endorsement, that he spoke with her Saturday night.
“My wonderful friend Haley Stevens wants me to represent to you and everybody else I talk to that she is voting straight down the line on the Democratic ticket, and she’s going to be celebrating with Democrats across the country when we win on Tuesday night,” Raskin said Sunday morning.
It’s unclear how much Stevens’ endorsement could affect the race’s outcome. More than 2 million votes have already been cast in Michigan, according to NBC News data.
