Rep. Haley Stevens Endorses Republican Mike Rogers Over Democratic Nominee El-Sayed Before the Michigan Senate Vote

Rep. Haley Stevens, the Michigan Democrat who lost the Senate primary to Abdul El-Sayed, endorsed Republican Mike Rogers on Nov. 1, 2026, attending Perfecting Church in Detroit with him. In a video on X she said she was “no longer welcome in his campaign,” and added: “And that’s why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States Senate today.” Bridge Michigan quotes her: “We can’t stand with hate.”

MS NOW, citing a Democratic source speaking anonymously, reports El-Sayed’s campaign asked her to stay away from its events after the dispute over a Rebellion PAC ad; see 2026-10-30–stevens-conditions-unity-event-on-el-sayed-condemning-rebellion-pac-ad-el-sayed-statement-does-not-mention-it-campaign-asks-her-to-stay-away.

El-Sayed said: “I actually don’t think about Haley Stevens.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called it “a despicable betrayal.” Her chief of staff said “many members of our team have resigned.” Rogers praised the decision, and Trump praised Stevens’ endorsement on Truth Social.

Early voting has been underway since Oct. 24, per Bridge Michigan.

Update (2026-11-01, publication date of the post): A shout at the news conference

A post by Aaron Rupar with a video clip says a protester yelled “Haley Stevens is a traitor!” at the news conference and that Stevens then wrapped it up in a hurry. That is his description of the clip.

Update (2026-11-01, statement date): The Democratic response beyond Schumer

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel: “Congresswoman Stevens is not a current member of the Michigan Democratic Party, nor will she be in the future.” and “This is not high school.” DNC Chair Ken Martin: the endorsement “is a betrayal of the values of the Democratic Party.” Rep. Nancy Pelosi: Stevens chose to “dangerously betray Michigan families’ healthcare, freedoms and future.” Rep. Debbie Dingell: “I was stunned since she had told me she wasn’t doing that last night at midnight.” Sen. Gary Peters: “extremely disappointed”. Sen. Elissa Slotkin: “There is simply too much at stake.” Rep. Jared Huffman: “Pathetic, petty, selfish, unhinged,” Sen. Bernie Sanders: “fragile ego.” State Sen. Mallory McMorrow: “If anything, I think it’s going to backfire.”

Update (2026-11-01, statement date): Her staff, Sanders and Newsom

Her chief of staff of eight years, in a statement for the campaign team: “We are shocked and heartbroken by Congresswoman Stevens’ decision to support Mike Rogers.” Sen. Bernie Sanders: “Rep. Haley Stevens’ staff is right to resign in disgust.” California Gov. Gavin Newsom: Stevens “went another 180 degrees overnight, so something was going on there,” and “This may be curiously the October surprise of sorts.”

Update (2026-11-01, interview date): Dingell says she pulled the church invitation, not El-Sayed

Rep. Debbie Dingell helped organize the planned joint church appearance and says she asked Stevens not to attend, and that Stevens told her she would abide by that, the AP reports: “I’m the one who pulled it, because it had become way too distracting.” She added: “The bishop was getting upset, because this is a real church service.” Stevens’s video gives a different account: El-Sayed “said I was no longer welcome in his campaign and that I should stay away.” Fox News adds, as a separate step, that El-Sayed’s campaign asked her to stay away from its remaining events.

Update (2026-11-01, news conference date): What she and Rogers said at the news conference

From CNN’s video of the news conference, https://youtu.be/b0vFVC1aa8I, about 0:30 to 7:04; hand update, because the sourcing gate can’t read YouTube. The words were read from auto-captions and checked by ear by the editor.

Stevens said El-Sayed “made very clear that I was not welcome in his campaign,” and later, “Abdul was very clear. He said, don’t come.” Her reason: “We have to stand with country. We can’t stand with hate. We can’t stand with Hasan Piker.” She said, “I woke up this morning and I decided to go to church.” Rogers said, “when I got the call this morning,” and called the pairing “a statement about standing together against hate”; the examples he gave concerned Jewish students at the University of Michigan.

In these seven minutes neither of them mentions Trump, “jihadist” or anti-Muslim attacks, and one question is taken. That describes this video only. Dingell’s account of who pulled the invitation is in the update above.

Update (2026-11-01, statement date): Rep. Raskin: she told him otherwise the night before

Rep. Jamie Raskin told Axios: “I’m dumbfounded that Haley told me one thing last night and changed her mind today.” He had said she told him by phone she was “voting straight down the line on the Democratic ticket.”