Haley Stevens backs Mike Rogers after Michigan primary, faces questions over reversal

Rep. Haley Stevens faced questions Sunday about her decision to endorse Republican Mike Rogers over Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan’s Senate race, just days after saying she would not support Rogers.

CNN host Anderson Cooper asked Stevens what had changed since fellow Michigan Democrat Debbie Dingell said Stevens had told her the night before that she would not endorse Rogers.

Stevens said she felt relieved after making the decision. She said she had tried to help El-Sayed and had endorsed him, but grew troubled by what she described as increasing anger and a lack of kindness. She also criticized an advertisement supporting El-Sayed, saying it had been painful to watch and made some Democrats feel unwelcome in their own party.

Stevens said she had taken time alone to think and write, adding that she remained a proud Democrat. She said most Democrats were backing El-Sayed, but she and a small number of others had reached a different conclusion.

Stevens announced her endorsement of Rogers on Sunday, a sharp change after El-Sayed narrowly defeated her in the Democratic primary. She said El-Sayed had made her feel she was no longer welcome in his campaign.

The endorsement came after Rebellion PAC, a group founded by commentator Cenk Uygur, ran an ad supporting El-Sayed. Stevens called the ad antisemitic and urged El-Sayed to condemn it. His campaign said it had no connection to the advertisement. El-Sayed said he disagreed with its message; the ad showed grocery shoppers blaming Israel for rising prices.

Cooper also brought up an August post in which Stevens criticized Rogers, saying he would back President Donald Trump’s agenda and that Republicans should not gain another Senate seat. Asked why she now supported him, Stevens returned to her concerns about El-Sayed’s conduct.

At one point, Stevens suggested Cooper sounded angry with her. Cooper said he was trying to understand why she had been willing to appear at an event with El-Sayed and then changed course. After a pause, Stevens asked whether he had a question. Cooper replied that he was giving her a chance to add more, but she did not.

Stevens later said voters in Michigan would make their choice and that she had made her own position clear.

Adrian Hemond, head of Michigan consulting firm Grassroots Midwest, said the endorsement would have mattered more if Stevens had made it a month earlier, noting that more than two million people had already voted.

Stevens’ office and the Rogers campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The interview drew criticism from several political figures. Commentator Mehdi Hasan called Stevens a “train wreck,” while Republican CNN contributor Shermichael Singleton said he felt sorry for her. Dingell, speaking with Cooper afterward, described the interview as one of the most painful she had watched. She said she had spoken with Stevens several times, was worried about her and feared the episode had become a distraction. Dingell also maintained that Stevens had told her she would not endorse Rogers.

Some Democrats condemned Stevens’ decision, calling her a traitor and an opportunist. Streamer Hasan Piker questioned her motives in a post on X, claiming she was unusually focused on Israel.