A Democrat Endorses the Republican in Michigan's Senate Race — and New York's Schumer Calls It a 'Despicable Betrayal'

The midterm campaign produced its most startling defection on Sunday in Michigan. Rep. Haley Stevens, the Democrat who lost her party's Senate primary to Abdul El-Sayed in August by a single point — 48.5 percent to 47.5 — appeared with the Republican nominee, former Rep. Mike Rogers, at Perfecting Church on Detroit's east side and endorsed him, less than 48 hours before polls open in a race that could help decide control of the U.S. Senate.

Stevens explained herself in a video posted to social media. The El-Sayed campaign, she said, had told her she was no longer welcome after she demanded in an Oct. 30 statement that he condemn an outside political action committee's ad, and she also cited his campaigning with the streamer Hasan Piker. 'I don't belong in Abdul's campaign,' she said, calling herself 'a very proud Democrat' and adding: 'This is the conscience of the Senate right now and our Michigan moment.' She and El-Sayed had been expected at a joint Detroit church event on Sunday with Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina; instead she attended a service with Rogers and his wife and then stood with him before reporters, where Rogers said he was proud to earn her vote.

The reaction from her own party was instant, and its loudest voice was New York's. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer — who said in June that he thought Stevens had the best chance of beating Rogers — called the endorsement a 'despicable betrayal' and said Senate Democrats were united in support of El-Sayed. Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel said the same for the state party. El-Sayed declined to engage: 'I actually don't think about Haley Stevens,' he told reporters, saying he was focused on Michigan's voters and the cost of living. President Donald Trump, at his Sunday rally in Iowa, praised Stevens, called the endorsement 'brave,' and urged her to join the Republican Party.

What the endorsement changes is less clear than how it looks. Prediction-market traders marked El-Sayed down from about 76 percent to 68 percent within hours on Sunday, and 11 of 12 October polls had him ahead by between one and seven points. The Associated Press found Michigan early voting up more than 30 percent on 2022, which means a large share of the electorate had already voted before Stevens spoke. But in a Senate map where Democrats need a net gain of four seats and every close race counts, a sitting Democratic congresswoman closing the campaign beside the Republican nominee is the image both parties will carry into Tuesday.