Two days remain before US midterm election voting, but Michigan's Democratic Party has "betrayed" us.
According to an article by The Associated Press on November 2nd, American Democratic Congresswoman Haley Stevens suddenly announced her decision to abandon her support for her party’s senator candidate Abdul El-Sayed in favor of Republican candidate Mike Rogers. This move caught the Democratic Party leaders off guard, and Michigan’s Democratic Party subsequently expelled her from the party.
Abdul El-Said – Associated Press
What is even more embarrassing for the Democrats is that Stevens lost her party primary against El-Sayed in August this year, despite having promised to support her former opponent several times before. Now, she is switching sides to the Republicans just before the election, and this battle could determine who will control the U.S. Senate.
On the morning of November 1st, local time, Stevens appeared at the Perfecting Church in Detroit alongside Rogers. The two joined religious activities together. Later, she posted a video on social media, officially announcing her support for Rogers.
Stevens (left) and Rogers (right), Associated Press
Our Democratic Party candidate for Senate, Abdoulah Al-Abduleh said his campaign team no longer welcomes me, urging me to move further away. Stephen replied, "He's right. So I am announcing my support today for Mike Rogers' campaign for the US Senate."
Just a few days ago, she assured Democratic leaders that she would not withdraw her support for El-Said.
This sudden switch of sides was unprepared for even Rogers’ campaign team. According to the Associated Press, Rogers contacted Stevens over the weekend, but it wasn’t until the morning of November 1st that some of his staff learned that the two would be attending a church event together. It was only after Stevens released a support video that Rogers’ team officially learned of her decision.
Rogers received support from Trump, and his campaign immediately used Stevens's endorsement to boost votes.
Democratic Party side reacted fiercely.
Michigan Democrats announced that they had expelled Stevens from the party. Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer and others publicly condemned her actions, and some local Democratic members who once supported Stevens also expressed their inability to accept this decision.
Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Dingell also tried to mediate the conflict between the two parties. In an interview with CNN, she said that it was very painful to see Stevens publicly switching sides towards the Republican Party.
The conflict between Stevens and El-Said began during the Democratic primary elections this summer.
In August, El-Sayed defeated Stevens by a margin of about 14,000 votes, winning the nomination as Michigan's Democratic senator candidate. The competition between the two was extremely fierce, and one of the main issues of contention was the war between Israel and Gaza.
El-Sayed belongs to the progressive faction of the Democratic Party and has received support from senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. He has long criticized the United States for its military assistance to Israel, accusing Israel of carrying out “genocide” in Gaza and practicing “racial segregation” in the West Bank. He also linked the rising cost of living in the United States to the Israeli government’s efforts to provoke war against Iran.
In an interview with the American National Broadcasting Company in October this year, El-Sayed said, "We are paying $5 per gallon for gasoline, and food and groceries are getting more and more expensive. This is because we are fighting a war that we shouldn’t be fighting at all. Whose orders are these? The Israeli government."
He also claimed in an interview that the funds used by the United States to 'subsidize racial segregation in the West Bank' should have been spent on community projects in the Detroit West Side.
However, some of El-Said’s statements have also sparked controversy regarding anti-Semitism. In March of this year, after a synagogue in Michigan was attacked, he condemned the attack. However, in a subsequent video speech, he used the phrase “those who are harmed will harm others,” and mentioned that the attackers’ relatives had died in Israel’s air strikes against Lebanon. Critics argue that this statement serves to justify the attackers. El-Said later acknowledged that his wording was inappropriate and apologized to those who were harmed, emphasizing that he did not intend to absolve violence.
In addition, during the Democratic primary elections, El-Sayed participated in campaign activities alongside the left-wing internet personality Hasan Piker. Piker has been criticized for claiming that “the United States deserves the ‘9·11’ attacks,” making controversial statements about Jews, and defending the actions of certain Middle Eastern armed organizations. As these controversies intensified, El-Sayed gradually distanced himself from Piker.
In contrast, Stevens has close relations with pro-Israel political groups in the United States. During the Democratic primary elections, he received strong support from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a pro-Israel political organization. The differences between the two parties regarding issues related to Israel permeated throughout the party’s primary elections and intensified once again on the eve of the election.
Recently, there has been another dispute over campaign ads between the two parties. Stevens criticized an advertisement that linked U.S. aid to Israel with domestic civil affairs issues, leading to continued public confrontations between the two sides.
The Democratic Party originally scheduled for both of them to attend an event on November 1st in order to demonstrate party unity. However, Dinggel later stated that due to the intense debate between the two parties having taken precedence over other matters, she decided not to invite Stevens to the event anymore.
Stevens then appeared beside Rogers.
In an interview with CNN, she accused El-Sayed of becoming increasingly angry and attempting to exclude certain individuals from the campaign team. She said that she felt relieved after making her decision.
However, not all Democrats believe that Israeli policy differences are the real reason for Stevens’ switch of sides.
The Democratic strategist who once supported Stevens, Adrian Hemond, believes that this is more of a personal dispute between the two. If the real reason was different policy positions, Stevens should have made a decision a month ago, rather than waiting until two days before the election. He frankly said that Stevens' approach was "absolutely stupid."
Regarding this incident, El-Said tried to act as if he didn’t care.
On November 2nd, El-Sayed attended a campaign rally at the University of Eastern Michigan together with Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren. He did not mention Stevens’ defection, instead continued to speak about issues that voters care about, such as living costs.
When asked what he wanted to say to those supporters who were worried that Stevens's change of heart would affect the election results, El-Sayed only replied with two words: “Vote.” He added that this was the only action they could take at this point that would have an impact on the election outcome.
It is still unclear what impact this sudden incident will have on the elections.
Michigan is one of the important battlegrounds in this year's U.S. Senate elections. Democratic Senator Gary Peters has decided not to run for re-election, making this seat a target for both parties.
As of November 2nd, more than 2.3 million voters in Michigan have already voted early. During the 2022 midterm elections, the total number of voters in this state was close to 4.5 million.
According to an interview with Stevens' former constituency by the Associated Press, voters had mixed reactions to his switch of allegiance.
Derryl Reed, a voter who supported Stevens in the primary election, said he was disappointed by her decision. He believed that this move might instead encourage more people to support El-Sayed.
Another 62-year-old voter, Cassaundra Sims, said that Stevens's actions were shocking and disappointing, and proved that she is not trustworthy.
But some voters believe that Stevens made the right choice. A voter from Bloomfield Hills said that he believes Stevens is not willing to tolerate inappropriate treatment of Jewish communities any longer.
Democratic Party leaders sought to capitalize on this defection by mobilizing support for them.
El-Sayed’s campaign team revealed that they raised $2.4 million on November 1, setting a record for the highest single-day fundraising in this campaign. The Michigan Democratic Party also reported a significant increase in the number of volunteers who signed up to door-to-door canvassing.
Curtis Hertel, the Democratic Party chairman of Michigan, believes that Stevens’ actions will not change the election results, but instead will further motivate Democratic supporters to vote.
However, some former supporters of Stevens still find it difficult to accept this outcome.
Lori Goldman, a Democratic activist who supported Stevens during her first attempt to run for Congress, told The Associated Press that she had known Stevens for ten years and was shocked by his sudden change of heart.
I feel she destroyed a significant political career that she had.” Golderman said, “I am shocked and heartbroken for her.”
