Dem Congressman Haley Stevens endorses GOP candidate Mike Rogers in Michigan Senate race
by Megan Brand, Henry J. Gomez and Allan Smith, NBCNews.com, November 1, 2026
In the biggest late shake-up of the Michigan Senate race, Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens endorsed Republican Mike Rogers on Sunday, Nov. 1, two days before Election Day. The seat is open because Democratic Sen. Gary Peters is not running again, and it is one of the races that could decide control of the Senate. Stevens lost the August Democratic primary narrowly to Abdul El-Sayed, the party's nominee.
Stevens announced the move in a video of less than two minutes posted on social media. "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," she said. "And that's why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States Senate today." She added, "I don't belong in Abdul's campaign." Before the video, she appeared alongside Rogers at a service at Perfecting Church in Detroit, which a Rogers spokesperson confirmed to NBC News. Stevens insisted she is "still a very proud Democrat" and called it "this one vote."
How it got here. Only days earlier, Stevens had said she would support the Democratic ticket and was expected to appear with El-Sayed at a Sunday unity event with Rep. Jim Clyburn. Last week she called on El-Sayed to condemn an ad from an outside group, Rebellion PAC, that tied U.S. military aid to Israel to grocery prices. In the ad, a mother tells her husband to put the eggs back because "we have to set that $7 aside for killing Palestinians." Stevens called the ad antisemitic. El-Sayed said the ad "was not made by me," that his campaign had nothing to do with it and that he disagrees with its contents, and he accused Stevens of being "intent on relitigating a primary that ended three months ago." NBC reported Saturday that his campaign asked her to stop attending campaign events. El-Sayed said Saturday, "I would rather not distract from the key issues of this campaign." Disputed point: Stevens frames this as being pushed out over hate; El-Sayed's side frames it as a primary grudge. Stevens also cited El-Sayed's ties to left-wing streamer Hasan Piker, who has appeared at his events: "I do not stand with Hasan Piker."
Rogers' response. Rogers said he was "honored" and that Stevens called him Sunday morning. "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, referring to Jewish Michiganders hiding symbols of their faith and being harassed. He said Stevens reminded him at the end of the call, "Remember, I'm still a Democrat." President Trump called her "brave" at an Iowa rally, said "I'd love her to join the Republican Party," and said on Truth Social that "Haley said what few people are willing to say." Speaker Mike Johnson said he spoke to her afterward.
Democrats' response. El-Sayed said, "At the end of the day, I actually don't think about Haley Stevens," and that he was focused on the rest of Michigan's 10 million people. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who backed Stevens in the primary, called it "a despicable betrayal" and said "Senate Democrats are united in our support for Abdul El-Sayed." Michigan Democratic Party chair Curtis Hertel wrote that Stevens "is not a current member of the Michigan Democratic Party, nor will she be in the future." Sen. Elissa Slotkin wrote that anyone "who makes an election this important about themselves" should think hard about whether they serve the greater good. DNC Black Caucus chair Virgie Rollins called Stevens "a sellout."
Inside her own office, longtime chief of staff Justin German and several staffers resigned. German said the team was "shocked and heartbroken" and urged people to "vote for Abdul." Former press secretary Joetta Appiah said Stevens is "walking back on everything her campaign stood for."
