Michigan Democratic chair says Haley Stevens is out of state party

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel said Sunday that Rep. Haley Stevens is no longer a member of the state party and will not be one in the future, a sharp response to her endorsement of Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan's U.S. Senate race two days before Election Day.

"Congresswoman Stevens is not a current member of the Michigan Democratic Party, nor will she be in the future," Hertel wrote on X, according to WDIV and Axios. The Detroit Free Press reported that party rules do not lay out a formal process for removing a member and that no expulsion vote has been reported, so the statement stands as a declaration by party leadership rather than the result of a formal proceeding.

The break caps a day that upended the final stretch of one of the closest Senate races in the country. Stevens appeared with Rogers at Detroit's Perfecting Church on Sunday morning, endorsed him over Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed, and by evening faced resignations from her own staff and a wave of condemnation from fellow House Democrats.

What did Hertel and the party say?

Hertel posted his statement on X and repeated the message to reporters outside a Detroit church where El-Sayed was meeting voters, the Free Press reported. He told the newspaper he did not expect the endorsement to change the outcome of the race.

The Michigan Democratic Party also issued a statement from Hertel and Vice Chair Portia Roberson that condemned Stevens' decision to campaign with Rogers and reaffirmed the party's support for El-Sayed as its nominee.

The Free Press reviewed the party's rules and found no specific procedure for removing a member for endorsing another party's candidate, while noting that the rules give leadership broad discretion. The practical effect is political: the state party has cut ties with a sitting Democratic member of Congress in the last days of a campaign.

Why did Stevens endorse Rogers?

The rupture grew out of a long-running feud between Stevens and El-Sayed that reached a breaking point over the weekend. Stevens had pressed El-Sayed to condemn more forcefully an ad from an outside super PAC that suggested U.S. aid to Israel was partly to blame for rising prices, Axios reported. El-Sayed said his campaign did not make the ad and that he disagreed with its contents, according to AP and NPR.

In a statement on Friday, El-Sayed said Stevens "seems intent on relitigating a primary that ended three months ago." In the video announcing her endorsement, Stevens said El-Sayed had told her she was no longer welcome in his campaign. "He's right," she said. "I don't belong in Abdul's campaign."

Stevens had endorsed El-Sayed after the August primary but did little campaigning for him through the fall, Politico reported in October. AP reported that Sunday's announcement reversed her earlier promise to support the Democratic nominee.

How did Democrats react?

The reaction from Stevens' colleagues was swift. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland told Axios he had spoken with Stevens the night before and that she had said she was voting a straight Democratic ticket. "There is a great sense of betrayal for this to happen at the last minute before such a critical election," Raskin said.

Rep. Glenn Ivey of Maryland told Axios he was "shocked that Haley would do this... right before the election." Rep. Lateefah Simon of California said she was "lost for words." Rep. Adelita Grijalva of Arizona said Stevens' decision showed why she lost the primary.

Inside her office, the fallout was immediate. German, her chief of staff, said in a statement that he was "shocked and heartbroken" and that many staff members, including himself, had resigned.

Not every Democrat placed the blame on Stevens alone. Two centrist House Democrats, speaking to Axios without being named, said El-Sayed bore responsibility for the split. One said El-Sayed "should have just condemned the ad and invited her to church."

In a CNN interview Sunday evening, Anderson Cooper asked Stevens whether she still wanted Democrats to win control of the Senate. "I absolutely do. I'm just casting this vote in my own way," she said, adding, "I'm just one person."

What did Republicans say?

Rogers welcomed the endorsement at the Detroit event. WDIV reported that Rogers said Stevens had reminded him she remains a Democrat.

President Donald Trump praised Stevens at his Sunday rally in Dubuque, Iowa, and invited her to join the Republican Party, AP reported. Stevens has not responded publicly to the invitation and has given no sign that she plans to switch parties.

Who is Haley Stevens?

Stevens, of Rochester Hills, has represented a suburban Oakland County district in the U.S. House since 2019. She won reelection in the 11th District in 2024 with 58.2% of the vote, according to Ballotpedia.

She gave up the seat to run for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters. She lost the Aug. 4 Democratic primary to El-Sayed, a former Detroit health director, by about 1% in a contest that drew more than 1.5 million Democratic ballots, MLive reported. Rogers, a former congressman who lost the 2024 Senate race to Elissa Slotkin by less than a point, ran unopposed in the Republican primary.

Stevens' House term ends in January. Democrat Jeremy Moss, a state senator, and Republican Ethan Baker are among five candidates running Tuesday to succeed her in the 11th District, which all four major forecasters rate as safely Democratic, according to Ballotpedia.

Where does the Senate race stand?

Michigan's Senate race is one of the contests that will decide which party controls the chamber. PollCubby's polling average, as of Nov. 1, shows El-Sayed leading Rogers by 5.5 points across seven polls. Nearly all of those polls were completed before Sunday's endorsement, so they do not measure its effect.

In the governor's race, PollCubby's average shows Democrat Jocelyn Benson leading Republican John James by 7.3 points. A gap between Benson's and El-Sayed's results on Tuesday would be one measurable sign of ticket-splitting.

A large share of Michigan's vote was already in before Stevens spoke. As of Oct. 27, 1,392,170 voters had cast ballots, 18.8% of active registered voters, according to the Michigan Department of State. That total included 1,176,375 returned absentee ballots and 215,795 votes at early voting sites. Statewide early in-person voting ended Sunday, though some communities offer extra hours Monday.

Timeline

• **Aug. 4:** El-Sayed defeats Stevens by about one point in the Democratic Senate primary; Rogers wins the Republican nomination unopposed.
• **October:** Stevens endorses El-Sayed but does little campaigning for him, Politico reports.
• **Friday, Oct. 30:** El-Sayed says Stevens is "relitigating" the primary as the dispute over an outside group's ad escalates.
• **Sunday, Nov. 1:** Stevens appears with Rogers in Detroit and endorses him. Trump invites her to join the GOP. Staff resign. Hertel says she is no longer a party member.
• **Tuesday, Nov. 3:** Michigan votes.

What to watch Tuesday

Polls in Michigan are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time. Most of the state is on Eastern time; four western Upper Peninsula counties are on Central time and close an hour later. Absentee ballots must reach local clerks by 8 p.m. on Election Day, and the Department of State advises voters to hand-deliver them or use a drop box instead of the mail.

Key questions include whether El-Sayed holds the margins Democrats need in Oakland County, the heart of Stevens' former district, and how his totals compare with Benson's statewide. Michigan does not register voters by party, so early-vote data cannot show how Democrats or Republicans voted before the endorsement.

What's next

Read NewsCubby's report on Stevens' endorsement of Rogers, our look at the Michigan Senate race, our guide to the Senate races to watch and poll closing times and our account of the early-voting period. For the latest polling averages, visit PollCubby.

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*ARCHIVE PHOTO: Rep. Haley Stevens in an official congressional portrait. Photo: United States Congress / Wikimedia Commons / Public domain.*

*NewsCubby articles are produced with AI assistance and reviewed by humans.*