The Democratic Party closed ranks on Sunday, November 1, 2026, around its Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, hours after his defeated primary rival, Representative Haley Stevens, endorsed his Republican opponent Mike Rogers in one of the tightest Senate races in the country.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer led the backlash, calling Stevens' move a "despicable betrayal" and saying Senate Democrats were united behind El-Sayed "because we know he will fight for the economic interests of working families in Michigan." In a separate statement, Schumer condemned what he called "racist, Islamophobic, and over-the-top false attacks" on El-Sayed by Republicans in the final weeks of the campaign.
The party fires back, from Detroit to Washington
The response came from every level of the party. Virgie Rollins, chair of the Democratic National Committee's Black Caucus, criticised Stevens and reaffirmed support for El-Sayed, saying in a statement circulated by the Michigan Democrats that "Congresswoman Stevens has lost her way, and Michiganders know that Mike Rogers is a shill for Trump and has failed Michigan. We are ready to elect Abdul on Tuesday."
Curtis Hertel, chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, went further, saying Stevens "has abandoned everything she claims to care about" by endorsing Rogers, and that she was no longer a member of the party and would not be in the future. Representative Debbie Dingell of Michigan said voters worried about mortgages and grocery prices should elect El-Sayed, dismissing Stevens' move as "continued efforts to get attention."
Stevens' own circle also split in public. Her longtime chief of staff Justin German said in a statement that he and "many members" of her team disagreed with the endorsement, a rupture that underlined how isolated Stevens' decision left her within her own operation.
Why the endorsement stung
Stevens lost the Democratic primary in August to El-Sayed, a former Wayne County health director, and had initially backed him. The relationship collapsed in the final week over an outside group's advertisement linking United States military aid to Israel to rising grocery prices, which Stevens called antisemitic and urged El-Sayed to condemn. El-Sayed said the ad was not his and that he disagreed with its contents, accusing Stevens of "relitigating a primary that ended three months ago."
On Sunday, instead of attending a planned unity event with El-Sayed and Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina at a Detroit church, Stevens appeared with Rogers at a service at Perfecting Church in Detroit and announced her endorsement in a video. She cited El-Sayed's campaigning with Twitch streamer Hasan Piker and said El-Sayed had told her she was no longer welcome in his campaign.
El-Sayed, for his part, brushed off the defection on the campaign trail. "I actually don't care about Haley Stevens," he told reporters at a "Souls to the Polls" rally in Detroit, returning the focus to Michigan voters two days before the election.
A race that could decide the Senate
Michigan voters decide on Tuesday, November 3, between El-Sayed and Rogers, a former congressman endorsed by President Donald Trump, for the seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Senator Gary Peters. El-Sayed leads Rogers by 3.5 percentage points in the RealClearPolitics average, within reach of a late swing.
The stakes go beyond Michigan: Republicans hold a 53-47 Senate majority, all 435 House seats and 35 Senate seats are on the ballot, and more than 53 million Americans have already voted early. If Stevens' endorsement moves even a fraction of her primary voters, it could tip a race both parties have treated as a must-win.
Sources: USA Today, November 1, 2026; Al Jazeera live blog, November 1, 2026; The Wall Street Journal, November 1, 2026.