Election 2026

Haley Stevens Endorses Mike Rogers, Spurns Leftist Abdul El-Sayed

Democrats are bluntly denouncing Stevens as a traitor.

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Haley Stevens and Mike Rogers | Dominic Gwinn/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom
Haley Stevens (Dominic Gwinn/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom)

Exhibiting a stunning rejection of leftist Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed, Rep. Haley Stevens (D–Mich.) has unexpectedly endorsed Mike Rogers, the Republican candidate, in the Michigan Senate race.

Her announcement, posted to X on Sunday afternoon, followed days of escalating hostilities with El-Sayed, who defeated Stevens in the Democratic Senate primary. She initially endorsed her fellow Democrat, but then Stevens' fiance, Jason Turkish, stated last week he could not vote for El-Sayed, citing the candidate's insufficient distance from Hasan Piker, Cenk Uygur, and other unrelenting progressive critics of Israel. That prompted El-Sayed to disinvite Stevens from all future campaign events; Rogers clearly sensed an opportunity, and secured Stevens' support after reaching out to her.

"Our Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate Abdul said I was no longer welcome in his campaign and I should stay away, and he's right," said Stevens on X. "And that's why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States Senate today."

Unsurprisingly, Democrats are furious—and are roundly denouncing her as a traitor. Her congressional staff is resigning en masse, apparently blindsided by the reversal. Even moderate liberal commentators who had preferred Stevens over El-Sayed in the primary are furious with her. Neera Tanden, a Democratic consultant who often feuds with the left-wing of her party, accused Stevens of betraying "all of her supporters." Activist David Hogg wrote that everyone who had backed Stevens over El-Sayed should apologize and condemn her. Commentator Matthew Yglesias wrote that he was very mad at Stevens.

This strikes me as a bit much, to be honest.

Yes, it matters a great deal which party controls the Senate, and thus individual races have extremely high stakes. Pro-Trump Americans want Republican majorities to protect them from bad Democratic policies, and anti-Trump Americans want the reverse. The country's extremely defective two-party system, in which we are constantly called upon to compromise our own personal values and select the lesser of two evils, is on full display here.

But everyone slamming Stevens as some kind of traitor should know this: Unshakeable, ironclad loyalty to one's own political party is not really a virtue. I would much prefer to live under a system in which Republicans and Democrats were more likely to buck their own parties and say that supporting such and such a person is outside the bounds of what can reasonably be expected. It's encouraging that Karl Rove has refused to vote for Bo French, the nominee for Texas Railroad Commissioner and an unapologetic anti-Indian racist. It would be better for the country if more Republicans followed his example—and if they similarly punished their Senate nominee, the manifestly corrupt Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The same is true of Democrats. El-Sayed does not appear to be corrupt or racist, and some of the allegations of anti-Semitism leveled against him are unfair: Criticisms of the government of Israel are not synonymous with attacks on Jewish people. That said, he is an extremely far-left political candidate—a socialist in all but name—who thought it was a good idea to campaign with Piker, a communist sympathizer with a long track record of evincing support for terrorist groups. El-Sayed previously derided President Barack Obama, who enacted an extremely progressive policy agenda, as "fairly centrist, middle-of-the-road." Democratic primary voters are free to pick leftists to be their candidates, but normal Democrats should not feel bound by those choices. Socialism, even socialism-lite, should always be viewed as a bridge too far, because it is a ruinous ideology that produces poverty and authoritarianism.

Now it's true that Stevens appears to be doing this largely for reasons of personal spite rather than some ideological opposition to his economic agenda, so I wouldn't exactly nominate her for a Profiles in Courage Award. But the tendency to lash out at political figures who exercise a degree of independence and brand them as traitors is melodramatic at best.

As for El-Sayed: He is running well behind the Democratic Party's gubernatorial nominee, Jocelyn Benson, which suggests that Stevens is not the only Michigan Democrat feeling uncomfortable about him. We will find out on Tuesday (or maybe Wednesday morning).