Haley Stevens’ staff quit as she backs Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan Senate race

US Representative Haley Stevens, a Michigan Democrat, endorsed Republican Mike Rogers for the US Senate on Sunday, 1 November 2026, two days before the midterm elections.

The announcement reversed her support for Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee who beat her in the August primary, in a contest that could help determine which party controls the Senate.

According to the Detroit Free Press, well over half of Stevens’ congressional staff quit in protest. One person, speaking anonymously over job security concerns, described a “mass resignation”. The exact number was unclear.

CNN reported that El-Sayed raised US$1.2 million after the switch, his second-largest single-day total, and led Rogers by 11 points in a New York Times poll.

Endorsement followed church appearance

Stevens sat near Rogers, a former Republican congressman endorsed by US President Donald Trump, at a morning service at Perfecting Church on Detroit’s east side, the Detroit Free Press reported. CNN described the venue as a Black church.

She then announced her decision to reporters outside and on social media. “I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States Senate today,” she wrote on X.

In a video, Stevens said El-Sayed had told her she was no longer welcome in his campaign. “And he’s right,” she said, adding that Michiganders’ identity “is not hate”.

Speaking to reporters beside Rogers, she said: “When someone says you’re not welcome in my campaign, you take the message.” She added: “I’m not turning my back on Democrats.”

Rogers campaign spokesperson Abby Ronson told NBC News that “Mike welcomes her”.

Dispute over Israel advertisement

The break followed a dispute over an advertisement from an outside left-wing group that linked high grocery prices and living costs in Michigan to US aid for Israel.

A planned unity event in Detroit involving Stevens, El-Sayed and US Representative Jim Clyburn of South Carolina collapsed amid the row.

NBC News reported that Stevens said on Friday, 30 October 2026, that she expected El-Sayed to condemn the advertisement, which she called antisemitic. The Detroit Free Press reported that she demanded an apology.

According to Michigan broadcaster WDIV, Stevens said El-Sayed could begin getting money out of politics by “getting Israel out of his explanation for everything Michigan cannot afford”.

El-Sayed said his campaign did not make the advertisement and that he disagreed with its contents. He accused Stevens of “relitigating a primary that ended three months ago”.

US Representative Debbie Dingell, who helped organise the event, said she asked Stevens not to attend because it had “become way too distracting”, Bridge Michigan reported. NBC News reported that El-Sayed’s campaign also asked her to stay away.

Assurances before the reversal

Stevens issued a statement on Saturday night praising El-Sayed for disagreeing with the advertisement, and had repeatedly dismissed speculation that she would withdraw her endorsement.

When staff urged her last week not to back Rogers, she replied by text: “Omg why would you think I would do that??!!”, according to a person who saw the message, CNN reported.

Dingell told CNN she was “stunned”, as Stevens had told her at midnight on Saturday that she would not endorse Rogers.

Stevens had spent months supporting El-Sayed after the primary and warning voters about what she called Rogers’ “harmful agenda”. The Detroit Free Press noted that her fiancé, Jason Turkish, had declared his backing for Rogers several days earlier.

Stevens will leave office at the end of her current term.

Stevens declines to give direct explanation

In a tense interview on Sunday evening, CNN’s Anderson Cooper repeatedly asked Stevens what had changed, including whether she had spoken with anyone or had a dream that inspired the decision.

“Nothing with me changed,” she said. “I woke up this morning clear-eyed, fresh and focused on what was in my heart, and that’s that.”

Stevens referred to “anger and lack of kindness” from El-Sayed. She said: “I changed my mind. (El-Sayed) said, ‘Hey, I don’t need your endorsement.’ That’s fine. Why the anger? Why the frustration?”

She described the endorsement as a “weight off my shoulders”, and said her mind was made up. “I’m rock solid. I’m an independent woman, I made my decision,” she said, adding that she still loved her party.

Stevens said she would vote for Democrats elsewhere on her ballot and hoped they would win the Senate majority.

Resignations from congressional office

Justin German, Stevens’ chief of staff for eight years, said the team was “shocked and heartbroken”. He said many staff had resigned, including himself, and urged voters to support El-Sayed and Democrats across the ballot.

Communications director Logan Basch also left. HuffPost’s Igor Bobic shared an automatic email reply stating that, as of 1 November, the sender was no longer with the congresswoman’s office.

Arik Wolk, communications director on Stevens’ Senate campaign, called the move “ridiculous and pathetic” on social media, saying she had betrayed the values she claimed to care about.

Asked about the departures, Stevens said she was under “transition”. She described the staff as “great individuals” who were free to share their views, adding: “I am not trying to upset anyone.”

Democrats condemn, Republicans praise

The Michigan Democratic Party said Stevens had “abandoned everything she claims” by campaigning with Rogers, whom it accused of selling out the state’s working class and wanting a national abortion ban.

Virgie Rollins, the Democratic National Committee’s Black Caucus Chair, accused Stevens of being “a sellout who used Black Michiganders for a political stunt”.

Neera Tanden, president and chief executive of the Center for American Progress, called the endorsement a betrayal. Commentary editor John Podhoretz replied: “Selling your soul for your party is what you do.”

Dingell called the CNN appearance “one of the most painful interviews I have ever watched”, said she had been worried about Stevens, and argued that the reversal was “backfiring”.

Asked about the endorsement, El-Sayed said: “At the end of the day, I actually don’t think about Haley Stevens.”

Trump, who once called Stevens a “Radical Left Socialist”, praised her “bravery” on Truth Social. At a rally in Dubuque, Iowa, he said he would “love her to join the Republican Party”.

CNN reported that House Speaker Mike Johnson also praised Stevens, while Trump senior adviser Chris LaCivita reposted her endorsement.

Final push for Senate control

CNN reported that a New York Times and Siena poll showed Democrats ahead in Michigan, Texas, Maine, Ohio and Kansas, with Alaska and Iowa deadlocked.

Trump ended his in-person campaigning at his 30th rally in Salina, Kansas, supporting US Senator Roger Marshall, who faces Democrat Adam Hamilton. In Dubuque, he called higher gas prices “a small price to pay” for national security.

NBC News spoke to Iowa voters in Des Moines who cited the war in Iran and living costs in the race between Republican Ashley Hinson and Democrat Josh Turek.

In San Antonio, Texas, Republican Ken Paxton called Democrat James Talarico a “radical”, while Talarico said Paxton had been “bought and paid for”. In Maine, Democrat Troy Jackson campaigned with US Senator Ed Markey against incumbent Susan Collins.

Alaska ballot lawsuit dismissed

A federal judge dismissed a Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit seeking to segregate Alaska ballots that ranked former schoolteacher Dan J. Sullivan, citing concerns over ballot secrecy, NBC News reported. CNN said the suit could have delayed certification.

The New York Times reported that Democratic nominee Mary Peltola’s campaign and other Democrats recruited the second Sullivan to run against Republican US Senator Dan S. Sullivan. Peltola has denied the accusation.

Trump called for Peltola to be removed from the ballot and prosecuted. Senator Sullivan told CNN he would accept the results, but left the question of criminality to lawyers.

US Senator Tim Scott, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, twice avoided saying on NBC’s “Meet the Press” whether he would accept a certified Peltola win. US Representative Jamie Raskin called the alleged tactic “stupid politics”.

Other election disputes

Advocacy groups and labour unions sued the Trump administration over its request that Washington state set aside more than 400 ballots from voters it said “are or were noncitizens”. The groups allege violations of laws including the Voting Rights Act.

An NBC News review found more than 200 voting-related federal prosecutions in the administration’s noncitizen voting effort. More than 75% involved lawful permanent residents, many of whom mistakenly believed they could vote.

California Governor Gavin Newsom wrote to four US district judges warning that the administration may try to seize midterm ballots. CNN reported that Senate Democrats also discussed potential election subversion on a call with election attorney Marc Elias.

Separately, a federal judge permanently dismissed Trump’s defamation suit against The Wall Street Journal over its article about a birthday card he allegedly sent to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003.