Rep. Debbie Dingell said Rep. Haley Stevens’ endorsement of Republican Mike Rogers prompted questions from Black pastors and, in Dingell’s assessment, galvanized communities behind Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan’s Senate race.
In an interview on CBS News’ The Takeout on Monday, Nov. 2, Dingell said pastors had asked her, “Who said she represented us?” She called the response a backlash and said it was “galvanizing many communities.”
Stevens announced her support for Rogers on Sunday, Nov. 1, after appearing with him at a Detroit church. She had lost to El-Sayed in the Democratic primary, then endorsed him before reversing that support. In a video announcing the change on X, Stevens said El-Sayed had told her she was no longer welcome in his campaign. EconoTimes previously reported on Stevens’ endorsement of Rogers.
CBS News also reported that El-Sayed’s campaign said it raised more than $2.4 million on Nov. 1. EconoTimes previously covered the campaign’s reported one-day fundraising total.
The dispute also involved an outside political action committee (PAC) ad connecting grocery prices with U.S. support for Israel. CBS News reported that El-Sayed’s campaign said it was not affiliated with the ad and disagreed with it.
Anadolu Ajansı reported that Stevens later called her change of support “a decision of conscience” in a statement it attributed to her on X. The outlet said Stevens acknowledged the decision had angered Democrats, but said it was not impulsive and had not been made by anyone else. Anadolu Ajansı also reported that she cited campaign messaging and El-Sayed’s association with political streamer Hasan Piker.
