Democratic divisions shake up key Michigan Senate race

A Democratic congresswoman in Michigan broke ranks with her party on Sunday to endorse the Republican candidate in her state's key US Senate race against left-wing progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed.

In a startling display of party infighting just two days before the November 3 midterm election, Haley Stevens, who lost a bruising primary to El-Sayed in August despite being backed by the Democratic establishment, said she was endorsing Republican Mike Rogers.

"This is a very close election, we all know that, but Abdul made very clear that I was not welcome in his campaign," she told reporters when announcing her endorsement.

Democrats are seeking to wrest control of both chambers of Congress from President Donald Trump's Republican Party in Tuesday's midterms, with the Michigan race a key battleground that could help them flip control of the Senate.

Stevens's move was an unexpected blow to that effort.

Trump praised Stevens for her "bravery," posting on his Truth Social platform that "Haley said what few people are willing to say."

"She showed great and almost unprecedented loyalty to the Great People of Michigan with what she did," he said.

Sunday's statement from Stevens was illustrative of internal divisions within the party, with left-wing candidates often clashing with the Democratic Party's establishment core on key issues.

It represented a fissure in the party over its relationship with Israel, which is sure to remain an issue after the midterms.

El-Sayed, a candidate with a rising national profile, has been a vocal critic of the US alliance with Israel, calling for a halt to arms sales to that country.

Stevens is a supporter of Israel and had issued a statement demanding an apology for critical comments El-Sayed made about the country.

El-Sayed said on Sunday he was unbothered by the Stevens announcement.

"At the end of the day, I actually don't think about Haley Stevens. I think about the 9,999,998 people who are not those two," he said, referring to Stevens and Rogers.

"Because you know what, I am just less interested in the politics of it all than I am in the policy of it all."

Democratic backlash against Stevens was fast and furious.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called her move a "despicable betrayal," while the chair of the Michigan Democrats' Black caucus said Stevens "revealed herself to be a sellout" who has lost her way.

"Congresswoman Stevens is not a current member of the Michigan Democratic Party, nor will she be in the future," state party chair Curtis Hertel wrote on X.

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, said Stevens had "betrayed" working-class people by endorsing Rogers.

Many of Stevens's congressional staff, including her chief of staff, resigned after her decision.

"They understand that the election in Michigan is far more important than Haley's fragile ego and that all of us must stand together to elect Abdul, defeat Rogers and end the Republican rubber-stamp control of the Senate," Senator Bernie Sanders said after the resignations.

One Michigan resident, 72-year-old William Blake, summed it up this way: "They better stop fighting amongst themselves and get themselves together. They have an opportunity here to gain a lot of strength."

Stevens struggled to explain her decision to endorse Rogers in a CNN interview on Sunday night.

"I woke up this morning clear-eyed, fresh and focused on what was in my heart and that's that," she said, adding that she still wants Democrats to win control of the Senate.

"It's just where I was at the end of the night and earlier this morning."

If elected, El-Sayed would be the first Muslim member of the US Senate.

Trump has often singled him out for abuse on the campaign trail, calling him a "jihadist" and claiming he wants to impose Islamic law on the United States.

Most polls put El-Sayed narrowly ahead of Rogers going into Election Day.