Haley Stevens flips endorsement to Mike Rogers after split with el Sayed
Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) endorsed Republican Mike Rogers for Senate in Michigan on Sunday, bucking her support for Democrat Abdul el Sayed after a dayslong feud. “Our Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, Abdul, said that I was no longer welcome in his campaign and that I should stay away. And he’s right, and that’s why […]
Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) endorsed Republican Mike Rogers for Senate in Michigan on Sunday, bucking her support for Democrat Abdul el Sayed after a dayslong feud.
“Our Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, Abdul, said that I was no longer welcome in his campaign and that I should stay away. And he’s right, and that’s why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States Senate today. I don’t belong in Abdul’s campaign. I do not stand with Hasan Piker, who gets trafficked on our college campuses,” Stevens said.
“I’m still a very proud Democrat,” she added. “I still very much believe in everything I voted for and said.”
El Sayed, speaking to reporters afterward, dismissed Stevens’s defection as a distraction from what Michiganders care about.
“I have a sense that you all are here today because of the decisions of somebody who’s not here right now. But I’m just going to tell you, this is a state of 10 million people who deserve a lot better from their government. I’m a lot more focused on the 9,999,998 that are not the ones you guys are talking about,” he said.
“I’m not in the business of driving clicks for you. I’m in the business of trying to solve problems for the people of my state. … None of this matters,” he added.
Reactions from both sides of the aisle immediately poured in, with President Donald Trump hailing Stevens’s “bravery” for flipping her endorsement.
“Wow, this is BIG! Congresswoman Haley Stevens, a Highly Respected Democrat, who narrowly lost in the Primary to Abdul Mohamed El-Sayed, and who has been breathlessly wined and dined by the Dumocrats to help in their Michigan Campaign for the United States Senate against Mike Rogers, has just ENDORSED Mike Rogers for Senate! Her following is huge, and the level of respect from the People of Michigan, especially our African American and Jewish populations, is virtually unparalleled,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday afternoon.
“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. It’s a thing called bravery, and few people have it like just displayed by Congresswoman Haley Stevens!” he added.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), meanwhile, reaffirmed his endorsement for el Sayed and criticized the “racist” attacks on el Sayed by Republicans.
“Senate Democrats are united in our support for Abdul El-Sayed, because we know he 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 said in a statement.
“We Democrats equally united in our total revulsion at the racist, Islamophobic, and over-the-top false attacks on Abdul by Republicans. These attacks are evidence of the total bankruptcy of the Republican Party today, who resort to ugly and un-American fearmongering because they have nothing to offer on the problems that concern people today,” he added.
Just an hour before endorsing Rogers, Stevens appeared at a church service in Detroit with the Republican after sparring with Democratic candidate el Sayed over the weekend.
” data-large-file=”https://conservativemodern.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/haley-stevens-flips-endorsement-to-mike-rogers-after-split-with-el-sayed.jpg” src=”https://conservativemodern.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/haley-stevens-flips-endorsement-to-mike-rogers-after-split-with-el-sayed.jpg” alt=”Haley Stevens and Mike Rogers” class=”wp-image-4787376″ srcset=”https://conservativemodern.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/haley-stevens-flips-endorsement-to-mike-rogers-after-split-with-el-sayed.webp 1024w, https://conservativemodern.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/haley-stevens-flips-endorsement-to-mike-rogers-after-split-with-el-sayed.webp?resize=300,200 300w, https://conservativemodern.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/haley-stevens-flips-endorsement-to-mike-rogers-after-split-with-el-sayed.webp?resize=768,512 768w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px”>Michigan Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers, right, and Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., attend a service at Perfecting Church, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo)
Stevens had originally announced on Friday that she had accepted an invitation from Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) to appear at a church service in Detroit with el Sayed, but the plan fell through as Stevens and el Sayed continued to grapple over an advertisement that Jewish leaders have condemned as antisemitic. The ad, produced by Rebellion PAC, blames the high cost of groceries on U.S. financial support for Israel.
Stevens endorsed el Sayed after losing to the left-wing candidate in a heated Democratic primary, but the two continued to clash over their stances on Israel, with Stevens being staunchly pro-Israel and el Sayed supporting Gaza and criticizing Israel’s government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“That is a policy that Mike is going to take on,” Stevens said as she emphasized her support for black-owned businesses while walking into Perfecting Church in Detroit, hand-in-hand with Rogers, per a video from local reporter Sam Robinson.
El Sayed’s campaign asked Stevens to stay away from his remaining campaign events on Saturday as the two deepened their feud just days ahead of the toss-up Senate race.
Stevens had initially committed to the church appearance with el Sayed on Friday based on the idea that he would denounce the Rebellion PAC ad and apologize for criticisms he has made against Israel during his campaign. She made the announcement in a scathing statement on X.
El Sayed has distanced himself from the Rebellion PAC ad that supported his candidacy, saying he was not associated with it.
“The ad did not invent its argument; it dramatized one Dr. El-Sayed has made in his own words throughout this campaign: that Israel is the reason Michigan cannot afford schools, health care, and child care. The standard here is simple. If those words are wrong when a Political Action Committee supporting his campaign says them, then they are equally wrong when Abdul says them, and Abdul has said them from the start,” Stevens said Friday.
El Sayed then rebuked her statement, saying Stevens was trying to “relitigate” their primary.
“While Congresswoman Stevens seems intent on relitigating a primary that ended three months ago, let’s all focus on the task at hand: that’s beating Mike Rogers, holding Trump accountable, and getting money out of politics, putting money in pockets, and passing Medicare for All,” el Sayed said.
The Washington Examiner has reached out to el Sayed’s campaign for comment.
Communication director for the Democrats’ Senate Majority PAC, Lauren French, called Stevens’s appearance with Rogers “enraging,” but argued that “ultimately we have the power to turn this into nothing more than a distraction.”
