- Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens, who lost a primary to Abdul El-Sayed, endorsed Republican Mike Rogers two days before the November 3 election.
- Her surprise endorsement exposed sharp Democratic infighting, drawing swift backlash from leaders including Chuck Schumer and Michigan party figures.
- Abdul El-Sayed, a left-wing progressive critical of the US alliance with Israel, remains focused on policy and could be the first Muslim US senator.
- The Michigan race is a Senate battleground with polls showing El-Sayed narrowly ahead, and control of the chamber at stake.
A Democratic congresswoman in Michigan broke ranks with her party on Sunday to endorse the Republican candidate in her state’s key US Senate race against left-wing progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed.
In a startling display of party infighting just two days before the November 3 midterm election, Haley Stevens, who lost a bruising primary to El-Sayed in August despite being backed by the Democratic establishment, said she was endorsing Republican Mike Rogers.
“This is a very close election, we all know that, but Abdul made very clear that I was not welcome in his campaign,” she told reporters when announcing her endorsement.
Democrats are seeking to wrest control of both chambers of Congress from President Donald Trump’s Republican Party in Tuesday’s midterms, with the Michigan race a key battleground that could help them flip control of the Senate.
Trump praised Stevens for her “bravery,” posting on his Truth Social platform that “Haley said what few people are willing to say.”
“She showed great and almost unprecedented loyalty to the Great People of Michigan with what she did,” he said.
Sunday’s statement from Stevens was illustrative of internal divisions within the party, with left-wing candidates often clashing with the Democratic Party’s establishment core on key issues.
El-Sayed, a candidate with a rising national profile, has been a vocal critic of the US alliance with Israel, calling for a halt to arms sales to that country.
On Sunday, El-Sayed said he was unbothered by the Stevens announcement.
“At the end of the day, I actually don’t think about Haley Stevens. I think about the 9,999,998 people who are not those two,” he said, referring to Stevens and Rogers.
“Because you know what, I am just less interested in the politics of it all than I am in the policy of it all.”
Democratic backlash against Stevens was fast and furious.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called her move a “despicable betrayal,” while the chair of the Michigan Democrats’ Black caucus said Stevens “revealed herself to be a sellout” who has lost her way.
In a CNN interview on Sunday night, Stevens struggled to explain her decision to endorse Rogers.
“I woke up this morning clear-eyed, fresh and focused on what was in my heart and that’s that,” she said, adding that she still wants Democrats to win control of the Senate.
“It’s just where I was at the end of the night and earlier this morning.”
If elected, El-Sayed would be the first Muslim member of the US Senate.
Trump has often singled him out for abuse on the campaign trail, calling him a “jihadist” and claiming he wants to impose Islamic law on the United States.
Most polls put El-Sayed narrowly ahead of Rogers going into Election Day.
