spoiler
The Michigan Democratic Party kicked Rep. Haley Stevens out of its ranks Sunday, after she endorsed Michigan’s GOP Senate nominee, Mike Rogers — over Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, who defeated her in the primary.
“Congresswoman Stevens is not a current member of the Michigan Democratic Party, nor will she be in the future,” the state party’s chair, Curtis Hertel, said in a post Sunday on X.
Hertel announced the decision just over an hour after Stevens released an endorsement video for Rogers. That video followed days of public friction with El-Sayed, much of it over the candidate’s stance on Israel, the same issue that made their primary bitter and divisive.
In her endorsement video, Stevens insisted she was “still a very proud Democrat.”
“I’m just letting you know where I am,” she said.
Michigan’s Senate race is seen as close, and polls suggest El-Sayed does not have the same level of support that other statewide Democratic candidates in Michigan do. While Democrats could achieve their goal of retaking the Senate via several scenarios, nearly all of the most plausible ones require them to win in Michigan.
Stevens’s endorsement enraged Democrats across Michigan — and the country — who have been encouraging her and El-Sayed to present a united front.