Michigan Democrat Haley Stevens endorses Republican Mike Rogers for Senate

US Representative Haley Stevens, a Michigan Democrat who lost her party's Senate primary to Abdul El-Sayed, has endorsed his Republican opponent, Mike Rogers. The Times of Israel reported that Stevens announced her support on Sunday, November 1, 2026, after she and Rogers attended a service together at Perfecting Church in Detroit. The move came only days before a general election that the paper said could decide which party controls the US Congress.

According to the same report, the endorsement followed a dispute in which Stevens was uninvited from a joint appearance with El-Sayed planned for that same day. In a video explaining her decision, Stevens said the Democratic nominee had told her she was "no longer welcome in his campaign" and that she should keep her distance, adding that he was right and that this was why she was backing Rogers. The Times of Israel reported that her top aide and other members of her staff resigned after the announcement. Axios reporter Barak Ravid shared her opening line declaring the endorsement, and in a later post described it as a significant development, noting the earlier back and forth over efforts to bring her to an El-Sayed rally that weekend.

The race and the candidates

Michigan, a Midwestern state whose largest city is Detroit, is electing a senator to fill an open seat in the US Senate, the upper chamber of Congress. In the American system, each party first chooses its candidate in a primary election; the winners then face each other in the general election. El-Sayed won the Democratic nomination in the August primary, defeating Stevens by what The Times of Israel described as a slim margin. The paper characterised the contest against Rogers as tightly fought.

Rogers is the Republican nominee and has the backing of President Donald Trump. Stevens, a sitting member of the House of Representatives, ran a full primary campaign before her defeat. The Jerusalem Post, which described her as a pro-Israel Democrat, illustrated its report with a photograph from a July 24, 2026 campaign event in Detroit at which she appeared alongside Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and South Carolina Congressman Jim Clyburn, a former House Majority Whip.

An endorsement of a candidate from the opposing party by a defeated primary rival is unusual in American politics, where losing candidates typically rally behind their party's nominee. The Times of Israel said the announcement stunned Democratic officials.

Why Israeli outlets are following it

Israeli media have given the story prominent coverage largely because of how Stevens is identified: as a pro-Israel Democrat. Both The Times of Israel and The Jerusalem Post framed her in those terms in their headlines. The Hebrew-language Telegram channel News.co.il called the move a jolt to the Democratic Party, saying it was being seen as a blow to the Democratic camp on the eve of the election and could widen internal divisions within the party.

The decision has also drawn a reaction from Michigan's Jewish community. The Jerusalem Post reported that some Michigan Jewish Democrats have disavowed Stevens over her endorsement of Rogers. The material available does not identify who those individuals or groups are, or what they said.

Trump's reaction

President Trump welcomed the endorsement. According to a Hebrew translation of his statement posted by the Telegram channel Abu Ali Express, Trump called the news huge, described Stevens as a highly regarded Democrat with a large following, and said Democrats had courted her intensively, including with lavish dinners, in an effort to win her support for their Senate candidate. That account rests on a translation of his remarks rather than on the original English text, and the portion available here is incomplete.

What the reports do not say

Several points remain unclear from the coverage so far. The reports do not give El-Sayed's own account of why Stevens was uninvited from the joint event, nor any response from his campaign to the endorsement. They do not record any public reaction from Rogers, beyond his appearance with Stevens at the church service. The Times of Israel reported staff resignations but did not name the aide or say how many others left. The Jerusalem Post's report on Jewish Democrats who disavowed Stevens is available here only in summary, without names or numbers. Finally, none of the reports offers any measure of whether the endorsement is likely to affect voting, and this article does not attempt one.