A House Divided in Michigan: Haley Stevens Sticks With El-Sayed as Her Fiance Backs Mike Rogers
Fiance Breaks Ranks Days Before Election Day
Days before the Nov. 3 election, Michigan's U.S. Senate race produced an awkward split inside one prominent Democratic household. Jason Turkish, a Jewish Democrat and disabilities and civil rights attorney from Huntington Woods who is engaged to Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham, told the Detroit News he intends to vote for Republican Mike Rogers over Democrat Abdul El-Sayed. Stevens lost narrowly to El-Sayed in the Aug. 4 Democratic primary.
Antisemitism Charge at the Center of the Split
Turkish said he had become convinced over the last three months that El-Sayed is an antisemite. He accused El-Sayed of using antisemitic language on the campaign trail, saying rhetoric about genocide in Gaza puts Jews at risk. He also pointed to El-Sayed's association with left-wing streamer Hasan Piker, who has faced accusations of antisemitism, noting that El-Sayed has not cut ties with Piker and has not campaigned with him since the August primary.
Stevens Responds on CNN: Still Backing Her Party's Nominee
Stevens moved quickly to contain the fallout. Appearing on CNN on the night of Oct. 28, she said hers is a household divided, but that she still very much wants the Democratic nominee to win. The statement ended speculation that she might follow her fiance toward Rogers. Stevens had endorsed El-Sayed soon after the primary, yet POLITICO reported she has rarely appeared alongside him since, saying El-Sayed is building a new coalition and it is not her place to push skeptical supporters into it.
