Representative Haley Stevens, the Michigan Democrat who lost this year's Senate primary to Abdul El-Sayed, endorsed his Republican opponent Mike Rogers on Sunday, three days before the midterm vote.
Stevens announced the decision in a video posted to X after appearing beside Rogers at the Perfecting church in Detroit, a predominantly Black congregation in the city's North End. "I don't belong in Abdul's campaign," she said in the video. She also said that "who we are as Michiganders is not hate", and that this was not what Democrats were getting from their nominee. She then declared: "That's why I am endorsing Mike Rogers," BBC News reported.
According to The Guardian, the split followed a public feud over an advertisement by an outside liberal group that tied US support for Israel to rising food prices. Stevens, a staunch supporter of Israel, wanted El-Sayed to denounce the spot. He refused, saying it reopened a debate settled in the primary, and his campaign then withdrew an invitation for her to appear at his Sunday events.
"This is a very close election, we all know that, but Abdul made clear that I was not welcome in his campaign," Stevens told reporters after the church service. She added that he had said he did not need her there.
El-Sayed, speaking outside a rally he held the same day, played down the split. "At the end of the day, I actually don't think about Haley Stevens," he said. "None of this matters."
Democrats reacted sharply. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the move "a despicable betrayal from Rep. Stevens" in a post on X, while his office said Senate Democrats remain united behind El-Sayed. Neera Tanden, a former senior adviser to Joe Biden, wrote that backing Rogers betrayed both Stevens's career record and the supporters who believed in her.
Curtis Hertel, chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, said Stevens had "abandoned everything she claims to care about" by campaigning with a candidate he described as pledged to a national abortion ban and to Trump's agenda.
Her chief of staff of eight years, Justin German, and communications director Logan Basch were among the staff who left after the announcement, according to CNN correspondent Manu Raju. German then issued a statement on behalf of her campaign team backing El-Sayed, saying the staff was "shocked and heartbroken" by her decision.
Republicans welcomed it. Rogers said the endorsement showed "courage", and President Donald Trump praised Stevens on social media for what he called loyalty to Michigan voters. State Senator Mallory McMorrow, who also ran in the primary, told MSNow the dispute was "more about her feelings than Michiganders".
Michigan's Senate seat is open because the incumbent Democrat is retiring, and a Republican has not won it since 1994. The contest is one of a handful expected to decide control of the chamber. Rogers faced questions about his ties to Trump's movement in the final week of the campaign, and GlobeTV's preview of Tuesday's ballot sets out the other races in play. Voting closes on Tuesday, 3 November.