Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., endorsed Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers on Sunday, a major shakeup in the final stages of a top battleground race that could determine which party controls the Senate.
“Hey, Michigan, as you may have seen, our Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, Abdul, said that I was no longer welcome in his campaign and that I should stay away,” Stevens said in a video.
“And he’s right, and that’s why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States Senate today,” she said. “I don’t belong in Abdul’s campaign.”
The congresswoman’s announcement marks a whirlwind turnabout from just days ago, when she said she would support her party’s ticket and planned to attend a campaign event on Sunday to support Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.
But leading up to the rally, Stevens and El-Sayed released dueling critical public statements, prompting concerns from Democrats that the spat was a distraction from what is widely seen as one of the most competitive Senate races.
Stevens had said that she expected El-Sayed to condemn an ad from an outside group that she said was antisemitic. El-Sayed responded, accusing Stevens of being “intent on relitigating a primary that ended three months ago.”
NBC News reported Saturday that El-Sayed’s campaign had asked Stevens to no longer attend campaign events following the dueling statements.
