WASHINGTON — Outgoing Rep. Haley Stevens upended Michigan’s closely watched Senate race by endorsing Republican Mike Rogers, a stunning move that caught nearly everyone off guard.
Stevens, a Democrat who came within a percentage point of securing her party’s nomination, announced the last-minute endorsement with roughly half the vote still to be counted in Michigan.
Some Republican strategists believe the decision could give Rogers a narrow advantage in what is expected to be a strong Democratic year. They argue Stevens’ break with her party may encourage other moderate voters to do the same after months of growing unease over Abdul El-Sayed’s progressive agenda.
“I do not feel that Dr. El-Sayed is fit to be a US senator,” Stevens said Monday on “The Scott Jennings Show.”
Stevens said she had “tried to do everything right” by supporting El-Sayed despite serious reservations, but that a steady stream of warning signs eventually became impossible to ignore.
“Then the ads came out, ads blaming Jews for everything, and the Tucker [Carlson] ad,” she said, suggesting that El-Sayed’s failure to demand the ads’ removal crossed a line for her.
In an interview with the Free Press, Stevens said she reached a breaking point late Saturday. She recalled asking herself, “Wait a moment, what am I doing?” and acknowledging that she had not been “being honest with myself” about her uncomfortable support for El-Sayed.
“I’m at peace with this,” Stevens later said of her decision to back Rogers. “I’m not wrestling with this.”
Stevens called Rogers early Sunday morning. The outreach was unexpected, although the Republican campaign had signaled that it was “pretty open” to receiving her endorsement after El-Sayed “pushed her out,” according to a source close to the campaign.
“We were all stunned,” a separate Republican aide involved in Michigan politics told The Post.
Democrats responded with anger to the extraordinary defection. Several lawmakers had contacted Stevens shortly before she switched sides after hearing that she might withdraw her endorsement of El-Sayed.
Late last week, Stevens publicly criticized El-Sayed over an advertisement from Cenk Uygur, the co-founder of the Young Turks, that blamed high grocery prices on Israel. El-Sayed said he disagreed with the ad but stopped short of taking the action Stevens wanted to see to have it removed.
El-Sayed then publicly celebrated his primary victory over Stevens, saying his “people-powered campaign defeated a historic $70M in outside spending from big corporations and AIPAC on behalf of Congresswoman Stevens.”
Stevens was subsequently disinvited from a planned unity event with El-Sayed.
“When you tell someone they’re not welcome somewhere, what are they supposed to do?” a source familiar with Stevens’ switch told The Post.
“She was uninvited. What did you think was going to happen? To quote Abdul El-Sayed, ‘Hurt people, hurt people.’”
Another Democratic insider told The Post that Stevens believed she had been slighted by her own party.
“It was personal,” the Michigan Democrat said.
Stevens believed the El-Sayed campaign owed her greater respect because of how narrowly she lost the primary and because of her influence among a particular group of voters. El-Sayed, meanwhile, wanted full control of his closing event and is “not a guy with an oversized dose of humility,” according to a former senior member of Congress.
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“No matter how big the race is or how consequential a situation might be, people are still in the ninth grade for the rest of their lives,” the former lawmaker told The Post, describing the lingering impact of hurt feelings. “And they’re still subject to those insecurities and sensitivities.”
Before Stevens made her endorsement, numerous Democrats said they had reached out to her, including “Squad” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) and others.
Some said Stevens assured them she would continue supporting El-Sayed despite her public criticism of the advertisement and the decision to exclude her from the unity event.
After Stevens endorsed Rogers, some critics began pointing to her fiancé, Jason Turkish, as a possible influence.
Former Michigan Gov. Jim Blanchard said he had dinner with Stevens and Turkish last Friday.
“He was working her over. The way he was saying it was, ‘Everyone is disappointed in you, they did everything they could to help you and then immediately after you lose the primary, you endorsed him,’” Blanchard told Gongwer Michigan.
“He was all distraught,” Blanchard, a key Stevens ally, added. “He was all strung out about Abdul. I let her know, he’s not a good influence.”
Turkish, who became engaged to Stevens shortly after her primary defeat, publicly endorsed Rogers several days before Stevens did. Group chats involving former Stevens staffers, including one that included Stevens herself, reportedly became active following the announcement, according to The Post.
Former Stevens adviser Caitlin Legacki blamed Turkish for the switch during a podcast appearance, describing the relationship as “absolutely toxic.”
“Her campaign staff is no longer around. Her official staff got cut out of all the decision-making,” Legacki said. “And they were as surprised as anyone by this. So she’s on an island with this guy.”
Stevens rejected the idea that Turkish had driven her decision. Speaking to Jennings, she said “any notion that I was forced into my decision is all more of the same.”
“We’re not the kind of women to be brainwashed,” Stevens’ mother, Maria Marcotte, who also endorsed Rogers, told The Post. “It’s misogyny.”
Several members of Stevens’ congressional staff resigned in protest after her endorsement.
“I think this is really disappointing,” former Stevens campaign press secretary Joetta Appiah told The Post. “Haley Stevens is walking back on everything her campaign stood for.”
“Michiganders deserve better, and they need to stay focused on what matters, which is electing Abdul to the Senate to stand up to Donald Trump, hold his administration accountable, and fight to lower costs for Michiganders,” she added. “We cannot let this distract us from Tuesday.”
El-Sayed dismissed Stevens’ endorsement of Rogers as a distraction that would have little relevance to Michigan voters.
Still, Stevens was the latest Democrat to publicly argue that El-Sayed had gone too far. Former Detroit-area Congressman Hansen Clarke (D-Mich.) endorsed Rogers, while former Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Lon Johnson said he would not vote for El-Sayed.
“I am really proud to have her vote,” Rogers told reporters Sunday, praising Stevens as courageous. “There are lots of Democrats that are joining us.”
