DETROIT (The Thursday Times) — Democratic Representative Haley Stevens withdrew her endorsement of her party’s Michigan Senate nominee, Abdul El-Sayed, and backed his Republican opponent Mike Rogers on Sunday, two days before a US midterm vote that could decide who controls the Senate.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called it a “despicable betrayal”. Michigan Democratic Party chair Curtis Hertel said Stevens is “not a current member” of the state party, “nor will she be in the future”. Her chief of staff of eight years, Justin German, said he and many of her congressional staff had resigned, “shocked and heartbroken”.
Stevens appeared with Rogers at a church in Detroit on Sunday morning, after telling colleagues as late as Saturday night that she would stand by El-Sayed, who beat her by about one percentage point in the August primary.
“Abdul made very clear that I was not welcome in his campaign, that he didn’t need me there, that he didn’t want me there,” she told reporters beside Rogers. She added: “I’m not turning my back on Democrats. It is one vote. When you see repeated hate, it’s not acceptable. I still love the party.”
Pressed on television that night to explain the reversal, she said: “I changed my mind.” Her fellow Michigan Democrat, Representative Debbie Dingell, called the interview “painful” and said: “I was shocked when I saw what happened on Sunday.”
El-Sayed, who would be the first Muslim elected to the US Senate, brushed it off. “At the end of the day, I don’t think about Haley Stevens,” he told reporters at a church rally with Representative Jim Clyburn. “None of this matters.”
Rogers said Stevens had shown “courage and bravery in putting Michigan first”. Trump called her “very brave”.
A rift over Israel
The two have been divided since the primary, above all over Israel. El-Sayed is a vocal critic and Stevens a staunch defender, and pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC spent millions of dollars on her behalf. The final break came over an outside digital ad that blamed US aid to Israel for high grocery prices. Stevens demanded he reject it. His campaign said it had nothing to do with the ad and he said he did not agree with it, then said he would “rather not distract” when asked if he wanted her at his side on Sunday.
Stevens says El-Sayed has not done enough to reassure Jewish and Black voters who backed her in the primary. Democrats including Michigan state Representative Noah Arbit, who said he has concerns about El-Sayed’s rhetoric, still rejected her move, with Arbit saying the answer “cannot be to embrace Rogers’ disgusting, dangerous Islamophobia”.
Rogers and Trump have spent the closing days painting El-Sayed as dangerous, with Trump calling him a “jihadist” and both accusing him, without evidence, of ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, which he denies. A Michigan State University poll found 38% of the state’s voters less likely to support a Muslim candidate.
Why Michigan matters
Michigan is an open seat now held by Democrats, and it is the only toss-up Senate race where they are on defence. If Rogers flips it, Democrats would need to take five Republican seats rather than four to win the chamber.
A poll last week had El-Sayed ahead 50% to 48%, within the margin of error. Polls in Michigan close at 6am and 7am on Wednesday, Pakistan time.
