Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) said Nov. 2 that she stood by her decision to back Republican Mike Rogers over fellow Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in the U.S. Senate race despite criticism from many Democrats.
“My decision to withdraw my endorsement of Abdul El-Sayed and support Mike Rogers has angered many Democrats. I understand why,” Stevens said in a lengthy post on X.
“But it was not impulsive, and it was not made for me by anyone else. It was a decision of conscience.”
Stevens said she remained “a proud Democrat” and that her endorsement of Rogers had not changed her political views. The congresswoman said she tried putting her party first and endorsed El-Sayed after losing the Democratic primary in early August, but she later felt “shut out” by his campaign.
“There was little effort to listen to the voters who supported me or bridge the real disagreements our primary had exposed,” she said.
Stevens said her decision to withdraw support for El-Sayed was partly driven by an advertisement produced by an outside group that tied grocery prices to U.S. support for Israel.
She also took issue with El-Sayed’s campaign ad featuring conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, as well as his decision to campaign with podcaster Hasan Piker, whom she alleged was anti-Semitic. Stevens cited Piker’s comparison of efforts to win over Jewish voters in West Bloomfield to canvassing a Ku Klux Klan neighborhood.
While El-Sayed had condemned the comparison, Stevens said his decision to campaign with Piker raised “serious questions about his judgment” and ability to bring people together.
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