Haley Stevens Endorses Mike Rogers in Michigan Senate Race

Last updated: Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, 8:05 p.m. ET. This is a developing story.

Two days before Election Day, a Michigan Democrat crossed the aisle in the state's Senate race. Rep. Haley Stevens walked into a Detroit church on Sunday next to Republican nominee Mike Rogers, then posted a video making it official: she is endorsing him over her own party's nominee, Abdul El-Sayed.

"As you may have seen, our Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, Abdul, said I was no longer welcome in his campaign and that I should stay away, and he's right," Stevens said in the video, as quoted by NPR. "And that's why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the U.S. Senate today."

Why Haley Stevens endorsed Mike Rogers

The split goes back to August. Stevens narrowly lost the Democratic primary to El-Sayed, despite heavy backing from Senate Democrats' campaign arm, CBS News reported. She endorsed him afterward. Then things soured.

Stevens had argued for weeks that El-Sayed wasn't doing enough to reassure Jewish and Black voters who backed her in the primary, according to NPR. Two flashpoints kept coming up:

• Hasan Piker. El-Sayed campaigned with the streamer during the primary. In August, after Piker implied that Jews' support for Israel puts them at risk of personal violence, El-Sayed said Piker didn't speak for the campaign but stopped short of disavowing him. "I do not stand with Hasan Piker," Stevens said Sunday.
• The grocery-price ad. A recent ad from Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks blamed Israel for high grocery prices in the U.S. Stevens called it antisemitic and wanted El-Sayed to denounce it. His campaign said he had nothing to do with the ad and criticized its contents on Saturday.

On Friday, Stevens set a condition for joining a Sunday unity event with El-Sayed and Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina: El-Sayed had to reject the ad and apologize for rhetoric she considered offensive. El-Sayed said Saturday he'd "rather not distract from the key issues of this campaign." The event went on without her.

Her fiancé, Jason Turkish, had already said last week that he planned to vote for Rogers.

What Stevens and Rogers said

Rogers told reporters that Stevens called him Sunday morning and the two decided to appear together at the church. "This is more a statement about standing together against hate and the future of this state and this country than it is anything else," he said, per CBS News. He added that she reminded him at the end of the call that she's still a Democrat.

Stevens insisted she isn't trying to hurt her party. "It is this one vote," she said. "That's it. It's my personal and private decision. It's a Michigan moment, and everyone is entitled to their opinion."

How Democrats reacted

Fast, and harshly.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called it a "despicable betrayal from Rep. Stevens" on X and said Senate Democrats are "united in our support for Abdul El-Sayed." Michigan Democratic Party chair Curtis Hertel posted that Stevens is "not a current member of the Michigan Democratic Party, nor will she be in the future." Rep. Debbie Dingell said Michiganders care about affordability, "not Congresswoman Stevens' continued efforts to get attention."

Her own team walked. CBS reported that her longtime chief of staff, Justin German, resigned and said staff were "shocked and heartbroken." Her communications director's auto-reply says he left the office as of Nov. 1, and her former press secretary, Joetta Appiah, said Stevens is "walking back on everything her campaign stood for."

El-Sayed shrugged it off at a "Souls to the Polls" event in Detroit. "I actually don't think about Haley Stevens," he told reporters. "None of this matters," he said, pointing instead to families worried about school conditions, food and medical bills, NPR reported.

What Trump and Republicans said

President Trump praised Stevens on Truth Social and told reporters, "That was a big move, I think. Nobody expected that." House Speaker Mike Johnson, appearing with Trump at a rally in Iowa, said he spoke with Stevens after the endorsement and "encouraged her to stay safe and keep speaking the truth." The Republican National Committee used the moment to pitch Rogers to Democrats who feel El-Sayed has left them behind.

What it means for Tuesday

Nobody can say yet how many votes this moves. Stevens' endorsement landed with less than 48 hours to go. What's clear is that it puts the Democratic Party's fight over Israel and campaign rhetoric front and center in one of the most closely watched Senate races of the year, and NPR noted that rift is likely to last well past Election Day.

We'll update this post if Stevens campaigns with Rogers again, if more staff resign or if party leaders take formal action. For polling hours and what to bring, see our midterm early voting and Election Day guide. For another Senate race fight heading into Tuesday, read about the Alaska Senate lawsuit a judge just dismissed.