House Democrat Haley Stevens’ staff is revolting after she unexpectedly endorsed the Republican running against the Democrat who defeated her in Michigan’s Senate primary.
Current and former staff are furious after she announced she was backing MAGA candidate Mike Rogers just two days ahead of Election Day. The bombshell announcement came after she’d spent months supporting Abdul El-Sayed following his August primary victory, and warning voters against the “harmful agenda” pursued by Rogers.
In a jaw-dropping reversal on Sunday, Stevens lashed out at El-Sayed.
“Abdul said that I was no longer welcome in his campaign and that I should stay away. And he’s right,” Stevens said in a video posted just after she appeared with Rogers at a church.
“And that’s why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States Senate today,” she said. “Who we are as Michiganders is not hate, and it is not what we are getting out from our Democratic nominee right now.”
Her staff has not taken the comments lightly, with her chief of staff, Justin German, and communications director, Logan Basch, both immediately resigning.
German released a statement “on behalf” of the entire office saying they were “shocked and heartbroken” by her last-minute endorsement.
“As of this morning, many members of our team have resigned, including myself. We encourage everyone to exercise their civic duty, vote for Abdul and Democrats up and down the ballot, and stand up for the America we all believe in,” the statement said in part.
Her former staff from her Senate campaign have also voiced their displeasure with her endorsement.
Her former communications director on her Senate campaign, Arik Wolk, fired off on social media about his former boss’s shock move, calling it “ridiculous and pathetic.”
“Many amazing staffers went to work for Haley Stevens to fight for shared democratic values and keep this Senate seat blue. Some of those incredible people are now working their a--es off to elect Abdul,” he posted. “There are two Supreme Court seats…and so many other values Haley claimed to care about on the line. By endorsing Mike Rogers, she has betrayed all those values.”
Other Democratic aligned organizations beyond her office have also criticized her.
The Democratic National Committee’s Black Caucus Chair Virgie Rollins said that Stevens “revealed herself to be a sellout who used Black Michiganders for a political stunt.”
“Congresswoman Stevens has lost her way, and Michiganders know that Mike Rogers is a shill for Trump and has failed Michigan,” she added.
Her stunning reversal comes just days after she said she would support Democratic candidates up and down the ballot, as she had planned to attend a campaign event on Sunday to support El-Sayed.
When asked about Stevens cross-party endorsement, El Sayed said “at the end of the day, I actually don’t think about Haley Stevens.”
President Donald Trump, who once referred to her as a “Radical Left Socialist,” hailed her decision on his Truth Social platform.
“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 wrote. “It’s a thing called bravery, and few people have it like just displayed by Congresswoman Haley Stevens!”
