El-Sayed urges Michigan turnout after Stevens backs Rogers

More than 2.3 million Michigan voters have cast ballots

At Eastern Michigan University on Monday, Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed and fellow Michigan Democrats worked to refocus attention on turnout for Tuesday’s midterms. El-Sayed emphasized that his campaign was about voters, not himself and made no mention of Haley Stevens’ endorsement of Republican Mike Rogers. Stevens, his former primary rival, had endorsed Rogers on Sunday. Asked what he would tell nervous supporters about the endorsement, El-Sayed said: “Go vote.” He added: “There’s only one thing we can do to control the outcome.” Sen. Elizabeth Warren and El-Sayed’s grandparents joined him at the rally and greeted the crowd.

More than 2.3 million Michigan voters had cast ballots by Monday. Nearly 4.5 million people voted in the 2022 midterms. The state’s regular early in-person voting period ended Sunday, and polls reopen statewide Tuesday. The unresolved question was whether Stevens’ endorsement would affect people who had yet to vote.

El-Sayed reported raising $2.4 million on Sunday, his campaign’s largest fundraising day. The Michigan Democratic Party said it saw a surge of people volunteering to knock on doors.

Some party leaders, including longtime allies and some who remained critical of El-Sayed, rebuked Stevens and said the endorsement would “only energize their base.” Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel said: “I don’t think this changes the election results other than it galvanizes Democrats.”

Lori Goldman, a longtime Democratic organizer in Oakland County, a party stronghold near Detroit, said: “Well, around half of people have already voted.” She added: “But for the rest, it could matter a hell of a lot.”

Cassaundra Sims, a 62-year-old West Bloomfield resident who had voted for Stevens in the past, described her reaction to the Rogers endorsement as: “Shocking, surprising and, frankly, disappointing.” Sims, who is Black, said: “For her to be there supporting him, she has clearly shown us that she is not for us and that she is not somebody that we can trust,” referring to Stevens’ past support from the Black community. Lori Goldman, who had supported Stevens in her first congressional campaign and had known her for a decade, said she was shocked by the change in support. “I think she’s thrown away a career that had import,” Goldman said. “I’m stunned. I’m stunned. And I feel a little heartbroken for her.”

Debbie Rosenman, who leads two Democratic organizations in southeast Michigan, said the endorsement left local Democrats feeling betrayed. Stevens had partially represented that area in Congress for years. Rosenman said: “What I am hearing is fury. They are just infuriated with her and feel betrayed by her.” Democratic strategist Adrian Hemond, who supported Stevens and had been so critical of El-Sayed that he planned to leave the Senate race blank, said Stevens’ endorsement had nothing to do with their policy differences. “If it did, she would have done it a month ago,” Hemond said. “This is colossally stupid. But it has zero to do with any substance. It has to do with personal animosity between these two.”

Michigan Democrats had been divided for months over which candidate to support in the August primary, when El-Sayed narrowly defeated Stevens by around 14,000 votes. The primary included disagreements over Israel and the war in Gaza. Party leaders spent the final weeks trying to shore up support for El-Sayed, particularly among Jewish and Black voters who had strongly backed Stevens. In the weeks after the primary, many Democrats rallied around El-Sayed as the party’s nominee.

Soon after her primary loss, Stevens endorsed El-Sayed, saying she would do “whatever he wants me to do” on the campaign trail. She then remained absent from the campaign trail for months, and her absence became increasingly noticeable as Jewish leaders criticized El-Sayed. El-Sayed had criticized Israel and drawn criticism for saying “hurt people hurt people” after a synagogue attack and for appearing with streamer Hasan Piker on the campaign trail.

Those controversies largely preceded Stevens’ endorsement of El-Sayed. He had since apologized for his comments following the synagogue attack and had not appeared with Piker again, but Stevens and some Jewish leaders maintained that he had not done enough to address their concerns. Her fiancé, Jason Turkish, said last week that he would vote for Rogers.

A planned Sunday unity event featuring Stevens and El-Sayed was in danger of being overshadowed by their public sparring over Israel and an outside group’s campaign advertisement. Rep. Debbie Dingell, a senior Michigan Democratic figure close to Stevens, said she uninvited the congresswoman because the dispute had become “distracting.” Dingell and other Democrats said Stevens repeatedly reassured them throughout the week that the dispute would not cause her to withdraw support for El-Sayed.

Rogers’ campaign was touting the endorsement to voters Monday. According to a person with direct knowledge of the discussions, Rogers personally reached out to Stevens over the weekend. The same person said even Rogers’ own staff did not know about the planned joint appearance at Perfecting Church until Sunday morning and learned of Stevens’ endorsement only after it was posted online.

Few anticipated what would happen Sunday morning, when Stevens walked into Perfecting Church in Detroit alongside Rogers and stood with him in the pews. She announced her endorsement of the Republican shortly afterward. The endorsement led to her expulsion from the state Democratic Party.

Stevens said later in a CNN interview: “This is about Abdul getting angrier and angrier and saying, ‘I don’t want these people in my campaign,’” she said. “This is a weight off my shoulders. I’m being straight with everybody.” Dingell, visibly shaken during a subsequent CNN interview, called Stevens’ remarks “one of the most painful interviews I have watched” and said she had been worried about the congresswoman all week. As polls prepared to reopen Tuesday, the effect of Stevens’ endorsement on voters who had not yet voted remained unresolved.