DETROIT

Rep. Haley Stevens, a Michigan Democrat, endorsed GOP Senate candidate Mike Rogers on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026—less than 48 hours before Election Day and a stunning break with her party's nominee, Abdul El-Sayed.

Stevens announced the move in a video posted to social media and appeared alongside Rogers at a Detroit church. The endorsement capped weeks of escalating tensions between the two Democrats.

"As you may have seen, our Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, Abdul, said I was no longer welcome in his campaign and that I should stay away, and he's right," Stevens said. "And that's why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the U.S. Senate today."

El-Sayed dismissed the endorsement, telling reporters at a "Souls to the Polls" event in Detroit that "None of this matters." He pointed instead to voter concerns: outdated schools, feeding children, paying medical bills.

Stevens cited multiple grievances. She objected to El-Sayed's association with Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who campaigned for him during the primary. "I do not stand with Hasan Piker," Stevens said.

In August, Piker implied that Jews' support for Israel could put them at personal risk of violence. El-Sayed's campaign distanced itself, saying Piker did not speak for them, but El-Sayed did not disavow the streamer.

Stevens had previously argued that El-Sayed failed to reassure Jewish and Black voters who backed her in the primary. Her criticism intensified after she urged him to denounce an advertisement by Cenk Uygur of Young Turks claiming Israel bore responsibility for high grocery prices in the United States.

Stevens wrote that the ad told Michigan families they could not afford groceries because their money was allocated "for killing Palestinians." She criticized the ad for blaming Israel, a close U.S. ally, for economic struggles facing Michiganders. El-Sayed's campaign said he had no involvement with the ad and criticized its content on Saturday.

Tensions escalated further after Stevens' fiancé, Jason Turkish, publicly stated his intention to vote for Rogers. Stevens later maintained in a television appearance that she would support the Democratic nominee—a position she reversed less than 48 hours later.