Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) announced Sunday that she is casting her vote for Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan’s U.S. Senate race, breaking publicly with her own party just days before the election.
Stevens made the announcement at a press conference alongside Rogers after the two attended a church service together at Perfecting Church in Detroit.
“My vote for Senate — I am just one vote, as is every Michigander. My vote for Senate is going to be with Mike Rogers, and I will tell you why,” Stevens said. “Because we have to stand with country. We can’t stand with hate, we can’t stand with Hasan Piker.”
Stevens said a friend had told her “education is on the ballot,” and noted that “a lot of young people” are watching this election closely. She said voters have “to make a choice about who is standing with them.” Despite backing a Republican for this seat, Stevens said she still expects Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to “become majority leader.”
“This was a personal and private decision,” Stevens said. “I woke up this morning, and I decided to go to church. I’m here with the person who I am voting for, for United States Senate, and that is Mike Rogers.”
Rogers said he was “honored to have Haley Stevens’ support.”
A Primary Rift Resurfaces
The endorsement follows a public falling-out between Stevens and Democrat Senate candidate Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, who defeated Stevens in the August primary. Stevens had endorsed El-Sayed after that primary, and the two appeared together at a unity breakfast that same month, but had not campaigned jointly since.
Stevens and El-Sayed had been scheduled to appear together Sunday at a get-out-the-vote event at another Detroit church, alongside Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) — what would have been their first joint appearance in months. That plan fell apart after Stevens issued a statement Friday demanding El-Sayed publicly condemn an ad from Rebellion PAC, an outside group not affiliated with his campaign, that tied high grocery prices to U.S. aid to Israel.
Stevens also criticized El-Sayed’s own past remarks on Israel, writing that the PAC ad “did not invent its argument” but instead echoed rhetoric El-Sayed himself had used on the campaign trail. She said he could begin removing money’s influence from politics “by getting Israel out of his explanation for everything Michigan cannot afford.”
El-Sayed responded in a social media statement, accusing Stevens of being “intent on relitigating a primary that ended three months ago.”
