Former Democratic Congresswoman Backs Republican in High-Stakes Michigan Senate Election

A prominent Michigan Democrat has thrown her support behind the Republican contender in a tightly contested US Senate race, deepening an intra-party feud just ahead of the election.

Haley Stevens, a former member of Congress who previously ran against Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed for the nomination, made an unexpected joint appearance with Republican candidate Mike Rogers at a local church on Sunday. Shortly following this event, Stevens released a video statement on the social media platform X to explain her decision. She stated that she did not fit into El-Sayed’s campaign and criticized the current direction of the Democratic nominee, asserting that the character of Michiganders is not represented by what she described as hate coming from his camp.

According to Stevens, the rift widened after El-Sayed uninvited her from a planned joint appearance on Sunday, informing her that her presence was no longer welcome on his team. Their public disagreement stems from a previous political advertisement funded by a liberal organization that connected Israel to rising food prices. While El-Sayed publicly condemned the commercial and distanced himself from its messaging, the two politicians had already found themselves at odds.

Political analysts view the Michigan Senate contest as one of the most fiercely contested races in the upcoming Tuesday midterm elections. The outcome of this battleground race, along with a select few others, will play a decisive role in determining which political party holds the majority in Congress over the next two years and will ultimately influence control of the Senate. El-Sayed has not yet issued a response regarding Stevens’s endorsement of his political rival.

Sources: BBC World

Aggregated summary. Original: BBC World