'A decision of conscience, not impulse,' Michigan Dem. Stevens defends her endorsement of GOP's Rogers

Michigan Rep. Haley Stevens, who lost the Democratic primary for US Senate, withdrew her endorsement of Abdul El-Sayed and endorsed Republican Mike Rogers in a lengthy post. “It was a decision of conscience,” Stevens wrote, adding that it was “not impulsive” and was not made for her by anyone else. She said she remains “a proud Democrat.”

Stevens said she endorsed El-Sayed after her primary loss and “put the party first,” but was then shut out. “The endorsement was welcomed; the people behind it seemed to be forgotten,” she wrote.

She cited an ad from a group supporting El-Sayed that tied the cost of groceries to America’s support for Israel, and another from his own campaign that featured Tucker Carlson. She also criticized his decision to campaign alongside Hasan Piker, whose rhetoric about Jewish Americans she called “deeply disturbing.”

Stevens said she asked El-Sayed to reject that rhetoric. He ultimately said he disagreed with the outside ad, but by then she had been told she was no longer welcome at his campaign events.

“If a candidate cannot make room for people who supported his primary opponent, how will he represent an entire state filled with people who disagree with him?” Stevens wrote. She rejected suggestions that her fiancé made the decision for her. “That is sexism dressed up as political analysis,” she wrote.

Stevens wrote that “Endorsing a Republican is no small thing,” and that she and Rogers “disagree on many things.” She said she hopes he can serve “in the tradition of John McCain.” Turning to her party, she wrote: “Loyalty to a party should never require abandoning your values or judgment.”

Stevens appeared with Rogers at a church event on Sunday, the same day El-Sayed’s campaign withdrew an invitation for her to appear alongside him at a different church event. President Donald Trump praised the endorsement, calling Stevens brave and highly respected.

The two clashed during the primary over several issues, most contentiously Israel. The grocery ad came from Rebellion PAC, an independent group founded by Cenk Uygur. El-Sayed criticized it and said his team had nothing to do with it. Stevens said she was “glad to see our Senate nominee say he does not agree with the content of the vile Rebellion PAC ad.”

Her fiancé announced publicly that he would vote Republican in November.