Haley Stevens Endorses Mike Rogers. 1.7 Million Michigan Voters Had Already Cast Ballots.

More than 1.7 million Michigan voters had cast ballots before Haley Stevens endorsed Mike Rogers. The state’s voting dashboard put the total at 1,704,715 on Oct. 29, two days before she spoke: 1,346,372 absentee ballots returned and 358,343 ballots cast in person at early voting sites. Stevens, a Democrat who lost the August primary to Abdul El-Sayed, posted a video on Sunday morning endorsing Rogers, the Republican nominee, for the United States Senate.

The appearance at Perfecting Church on Detroit’s east side was arranged that morning, Axios reported, citing a person familiar with Rogers’ campaign, after Stevens and Rogers spoke. She sat in the congregation with Rogers and his wife, Kristi, and her fiancé, Jason Turkish. Haley Stevens endorses Mike Rogers in the video she posted afterward, in which she said El-Sayed had told her she was no longer welcome in his campaign and should stay away. “And he’s right. And that’s why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States Senate today,” she said. She added that she did not stand with Hasan Piker, a streamer who has campaigned with El-Sayed, and that she remained “a very proud Democrat.”

Michigan’s Department of State said on Oct. 27 that 1,392,170 voters had already cast ballots, 18.8% of the state’s active registered voters. That figure included 215,795 people who voted at early voting sites in the first days of statewide early in-person voting, which opened Oct. 24. It was the first midterm statewide general election in which every Michigan voter could vote early in person. By Oct. 29 the dashboard total had passed 1.7 million, with early voting running at about 70,000 ballots a day. Early voting ran through Sunday, Nov. 1, with some communities offering extra hours on Monday, and mail ballots had to reach clerks by 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 3. The endorsement spoke to whoever had not yet voted, and to the 2,154,870 voters who had requested mail ballots, 1,176,375 of whom had returned them by Oct. 27.

Rebellion PAC, an outside group supporting El-Sayed, spent $1,000 putting the advertisement online, its spokesperson told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. The spot showed a couple in a grocery store putting food back and blamed U.S. aid to Israel for high prices. It was repurposed from an advertisement made for Cenk Uygur’s failed 2024 presidential bid. El-Sayed’s campaign said the ad was not affiliated with it in any way, and on Saturday El-Sayed repeated that he did not agree with its contents.

Stevens demanded on Friday that El-Sayed condemn the ad and apologize for his comments about Israel. She wrote that he could begin getting money out of politics “by getting Israel out of his explanation for everything Michigan cannot afford.” El-Sayed answered that Stevens seemed intent on relitigating a primary that ended three months ago. Debbie Dingell, who had organized a joint church appearance for Stevens, El-Sayed and Rep. Jim Clyburn, said she pulled it because it had become too distracting, and that Stevens had told her she would abide by that. “The bishop was getting upset, because this is a real church service,” Dingell told the AP.

David Kramer, who chaired Stevens’ Senate campaign, told Jewish Insider on Oct. 27 that he would vote for Rogers. Kramer had co-written a Detroit News op-ed with former state party chair Lon Johnson urging Democrats to leave the Senate line blank. Turkish told The Detroit News on Oct. 28 that he would vote for Rogers, citing El-Sayed’s rhetoric and its effect on Jewish safety. Hours later Stevens appeared on CNN to reaffirm her support for El-Sayed and urged his campaign to “shut out the hate and call it out.” The fallout from the church visit was swift, the AP reported, citing a person familiar who spoke on condition of anonymity: Stevens’ longtime chief of staff resigned, and more staff members were expected to follow. Her communications director’s automatic reply, reported by Times Now, said the director was no longer with Stevens’ office as of Nov. 1.

Inside Perfecting Church, Pastor Marvin Winans read out the candidates in the sanctuary before his sermon. Rogers’ name was announced first, and he stood and waved to polite applause. Winans then announced El-Sayed’s name, and cheers were heard, though El-Sayed was not in the building. “Y’all clapping and he ain’t even here,” Winans said, according to the Detroit Free Press, which watched a livestream of the service. El-Sayed spent the morning at Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ on Detroit’s west side, where Clyburn introduced him. He spoke for nearly 10 minutes about his service as the city’s former public health director and did not address the controversy.

Perry Lambert, posting on Threads on Sunday, called himself a Michigander born and raised in Iron Mountain and demanded that the Michigan Democratic Party censure Stevens. “You do NOT campaign alongside the opposing Republican candidate two days before an election and expect there to be no consequences,” he wrote. Another post on X the same day read: “Yup! She answers to one group and they are not Michigan voters!” No official had gone as far as Lambert. Rogers called Stevens “a courageous leader who deserves the respect of every Michigan voter” in a post on X. Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel said the party rejected attempts to divide it, and First Vice Chair Portia Roberson said Stevens had chosen a church where the Republican candidate was making his pitch over supporting the Democratic ticket. Neither called for censure. El-Sayed, at his own service, said nothing about Stevens at all. The two original posts that could be opened without logging in were both critical; Facebook comment threads and most replies on X required a login and were not read, and no supportive post by an ordinary voter was verified in the originals that could be opened.

El-Sayed won the August primary by 13,792 votes out of 1,537,628 cast, 744,952 to 731,160, with Mallory McMorrow taking 61,516. Stevens beat El-Sayed in Wayne County, which includes Detroit, and in neighboring Oakland County, the AP noted, drawing support from Black and Jewish voters in the Democratic coalition. Recent polls had El-Sayed ahead: a Marist poll conducted Oct. 15–18 put him at 50% to Rogers’ 48% among likely voters, within its 4.3-point margin of error, while a CBS/Mitchell survey put the lead at 51% to 44%. The seat is held by Democrat Gary Peters, who is retiring, and keeping it is central to the Democrats’ effort to win a Senate majority.