Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., stood firm Sunday night on her stunning endorsement of Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan’s Senate race, telling CNN’s Anderson Cooper that the decision was a “weight off my shoulders.”
Stevens, who narrowly lost the August Democratic primary to Abdul El-Sayed, threw her support behind Rogers just two days before Election Day, a move that rocked one of the most closely watched races in the country.
“Abdul has been getting angrier and angrier,” Stevens told Cooper. “I was trying to help, I endorsed him.”
The congresswoman said many Democrats want to vote for their party’s nominee but argued she no longer belonged in El-Sayed’s campaign. She described her decision as “rock solid” and said she would not be changing her mind before casting her own ballot.
The rift between Stevens and El-Sayed had been building for days. Stevens criticized El-Sayed on social media Friday, demanding he condemn an advertisement she called antisemitic. El-Sayed said the ad was not produced by his campaign and that he disagreed with it, accusing Stevens of trying to relitigate the primary. He then disinvited her from a Sunday campaign event that had been brokered by fellow Democratic lawmakers.
“He said, ‘Don’t come,’” Stevens told reporters earlier Sunday.
Stevens announced her endorsement after attending a service alongside Rogers at Perfecting Church in Detroit. Standing next to the Republican, she insisted she was not abandoning her party. “I’m not turning my back on Democrats,” she said. “It is this one vote.”
Rogers said he was honored to have her support and called the endorsement an example of courage in politics.
During the 15-minute CNN interview, Cooper pressed Stevens on why she changed course after reportedly telling fellow Michigan Democrat Rep. Debbie Dingell in a phone call Saturday night that she would not endorse Rogers. Cooper also asked about staffers, including her chief of staff, resigning over the endorsement. Stevens said her office was in “transition.”
Dingell, speaking with Cooper immediately afterward, said Stevens had told her “multiple times” she would not back Rogers. Dingell said she loves Stevens but called the situation painful.
Stevens brushed aside President Trump’s praise for her decision, noting she voted to impeach him twice. Trump had lauded Stevens on social media, saying she showed great loyalty to Michigan.
Democratic leaders reacted with fury. DNC Chair Ken Martin called the endorsement a betrayal of the party’s values, while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Senate Democrats are united behind El-Sayed.
El-Sayed dismissed the move, saying he doesn’t think about Stevens. His campaign said he raised $1.2 million in the hours after the endorsement.
Recent polling shows El-Sayed leading, but Republicans note that surveys overestimated him in the August primary, which he won by less than a percentage point.
