Michigan Senate race: Will Haley Stevens spoil the party for Democratic candidate El-Sayed?

DETROIT – Reporters were waiting outside the Detroit church where Democrat Haley Stevens was due to appear on the morning of Nov 1 with Abdul El-Sayed, the progressive physician who had defeated her in the primary, in a show of Democratic unity.

Led by Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, one of the country’s most influential black Democrats, the event was intended to signal an end to a bitter feud and rally black voters, a crucial constituency that had backed Stevens.

But Stevens never arrived. Instead, to the surprise of her own staff, she was sitting in a church pew miles away beside Mike Rogers, the Republican her party had spent millions trying to defeat.

This year’s October surprise arrived on Nov 1, when Stevens endorsed Rogers’ campaign in a Michigan Senate race that could determine control of Congress.

When Abby Ronson, a Rogers spokesperson, posted a photograph of the pair on social media platform X, we – like other news media outlets – jumped into our van and raced across Detroit’s broad boulevards, quiet on a fall Sunday. We drove past shuttered shops and factories to Perfecting Church, a black Pentecostal church outside Detroit.

By the time we arrived, television crews were already gathering around a makeshift microphone stand. As Stevens emerged through the church’s double doors, flanked by Rogers and his wife, reporters’ phones buzzed with a statement she had posted on X endorsing Rogers.

As reporters shouted questions and camera flashes lit up her face, Stevens stepped up to address the media.

“I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States Senate,” she told reporters.

“This is a very close election, we all know that. But Abdul made very clear that I was not welcome in his campaign, that he didn’t need me there, didn’t want me there. At some point, you’ve got to look at who’s standing for country.”

Protesters standing with the media shouted “traitor”.

The endorsement followed a week of public feuding between Stevens, a centrist, and El-Sayed over his stance on US support for Israel. It also marked a striking reversal for a lawmaker who had recently urged voters to reject Rogers.

“Mike Rogers will be another rubber stamp for Donald Trump’s dangerous agenda. We can’t afford to give MAGA another Senate seat in November,” she posted on X in August.

Republicans across the country celebrated a twist they hope will translate into votes on Nov 3. Speaking at a campaign rally in Iowa, President Donald Trump called Stevens’ decision “brave” and said: “I’d love her to join the Republican Party.”

Michigan Senate race splits Democrats over Israel

Democrats condemned the endorsement as a betrayal. More than half of Stevens’ staff quit in the hours after her announcement.

Her chief of staff, Justin German, said in a statement: “We are shocked and heartbroken by Congresswoman Stevens’ decision to support Mike Rogers.”

The rupture exposed divisions over Israel that have roiled the Democratic Party, even as it gains wider support among voters. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee poured tens of millions of dollars into supporting Stevens.

El-Sayed, who would become the country’s first Muslim senator if elected, has described the war in Gaza as “a genocide”.

For several voters interviewed on Nov 1, however, the political drama did little to change their calculations.

Kennedi Young, a 20-year-old university student, described the joint appearance as a “nice tactic to try to appeal to black voters”, but doubted it would sway her friends and family.

“I don’t feel like (Rogers and Stevens) came for the service,” she told The Straits Times.

Adrienne Bronaugh, 70, attended the service with Rogers and Stevens but had already voted for El-Sayed. She said she “doesn’t trust Rogers” and was more concerned about the cost of tariffs on Canada.

Tariffs imposed since Trump returned to office have disproportionately affected Michigan, a state bordering Canada that relies on imports to fuel its manufacturing industry. The Canadian flag flutters just across the river from downtown Detroit.

Trump’s tariffs on Canadian imports include 25% on vehicles and auto parts, and 50% on steel, aluminium and copper, with exemptions for some products. Introduced in 2025, the tariffs have remained widely unpopular. Some 60% of Americans disapprove of the tariff increases, according to a February poll.

America is “making a mess with our neighbours across the border”, Bronaugh said. “The tariffs are impacting all of us... We’re paying more for everything.”