Midterms 2026: Democrat Stevens stands against party colleague El-Sayed

scandal in the US election campaign

This dispute could cost the Democrats the Senate

Michigan is one of the hotly contested “swing states” in the midterms. There has now been an open break between the Democrats.

It is a rift with potentially bitter consequences for the US Democrats in the midterm elections on Tuesday: in the race for the office of senator in the state Michigan The candidate Haley Stevens, who was defeated in the Democratic primary, spoke out on Sunday for the election of Republican Mike Rogers – and thus against her party colleague Abdul El-Sayed. This could reduce his election chances in the already hotly contested “swing state”.

Stevens election recommendation for the President Donald Trump Supported candidates were preceded by a dispute with El-Sayed that lasted for days. It was about election advertising by an initiative allied with El-Sayed. The video falsely claims that the financial support of the USA for Israel the reason is the high food prices in the country.

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Stevens, who is Jewish herself, then accused El-Sayed of campaigning using anti-Semitic stereotypes. El-Sayed’s campaign had stated that it had nothing to do with the video; However, El-Sayed, who belongs to the left wing of the Democrats, did not distance himself from the content of the video. El-Sayed also refused an apology that Stevens demanded of him. Instead, El-Sayed disinvited Stevens from a joint campaign appearance planned for Sunday.

In a video published on the X platform on Sunday afternoon, Stevens complained that she was “no longer welcome” in El-Sayed’s election campaign and should “stay away.” “He’s right,” says Haley Stevens. “And that’s why I’m now supporting Mike Rogers as a candidate for the Senate,” said the Democratic politician. “The people of Michigan do not stand for hate and do not stand for what we are currently experiencing from our Democratic candidate,” said Stevens, explaining her decision. But she remains a “proud democrat.”

Abdul El-Sayed reacted calmly to Stevens’ recommendation for the Republican: “At the end of the day, I don’t think about Haley Stevens,” he said on Sunday on the sidelines of a campaign appearance. “My focus has always been on what we need to worry about, and that’s why I’m not interested in who says what about whom. This is just a distraction. I’m fighting to get big money out of politics and back into the pockets of the little people.”

He wants to ensure that people in Michigan have access to doctors and can afford health care. He also wants to reduce the increased food and gas prices, or expenditure on gasoline, while at the same time increasing air quality and putting the focus back on the ten million people in the US state instead of on the wars abroad.