Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed and fellow Michigan Democrats scrambled on Monday, November 3, 2026, to refocus attention on turning out Election Day voters after his former primary rival stunned the party by endorsing the Republican candidate in one of the country’s most closely watched races.
Endorsement Drama Shakes Up Final Hours
The final push before Tuesday’s midterms followed a dramatic Sunday when Rep. Haley Stevens endorsed Republican Mike Rogers after appearing alongside him at church. That appearance prompted her expulsion from the state Democratic Party and drew fierce condemnation from party leaders and longtime allies. El-Sayed made no mention of the controversy at an event Monday morning at Eastern Michigan University, instead emphasizing that his campaign was about voters, not himself. Asked afterward what he would tell supporters nervous about the impact of Stevens’ endorsement on the race, El-Sayed had a simple message: “Go vote.”
With over 2.3 million Michigan voters having already cast their ballots as of Monday, the question is whether the extraordinary political drama will matter to those who have yet to vote. Nearly 4.5 million people voted in the 2022 midterms. The state’s regular early in-person voting period ended Sunday, with polls reopening statewide Tuesday.
For Rogers and Republicans, the endorsement represented a remarkable political coup. Rogers personally reached out to Stevens over the weekend, according to a person with direct knowledge of the discussions. Even Rogers’ own staff was unaware of the planned joint appearance at Perfecting Church until Sunday morning and learned of Stevens’ endorsement only when it was posted online. Rogers appeared at a final rally Monday night in Oakland County, joined by Republicans up and down the ticket.
The closing pitches of the two candidates highlighted drastically different strategies in the final hours of the campaign. Rogers rallied in Oakland County to court independent voters and cross-over Democrats, praising the courage of Stevens. Roughly 25 miles south in metro Detroit, El-Sayed spoke at the Majestic Theater alongside the Chicago rapper Common, railing against President Donald Trump and calling on Democratic voters to support him out of loyalty to their collective.
Michigan senator Elissa Slotkin joined El-Sayed at a United Auto Workers hall in Flint to urge party unity, while former state representative Mallory McMorrow appeared alongside El-Sayed at a farmers’ market in Royal Oak. Slotkin framed the choice plainly for the electorate.
What matters is if you’re on Team Fight or Team Flight.
Voters Express Mixed Reactions to Political Defection
Voters expressed starkly mixed reactions to the defection. Cassaundra Sims, a 62-year-old resident of West Bloomfield who voted for Stevens in the past, described her reaction to the Rogers endorsement as “Shocking, surprising and, frankly, disappointing.”
Conversely, other constituents defended the move. Brian Butler of Bloomfield Hills, who has already voted, said he believed “Haley did the right thing.” “I think the Jewish people have been terribly treated and she wasn’t going to put up with it,” he said. Rogers’ Monday night rally featured several Jewish and Black Democrats who said they were voting Republican for the first time, citing El-Sayed’s radicalism and reluctance to condemn terrorism and antisemitism.
Michigan Democrats for months were divided on which candidate to support in the August primary, when El-Sayed defeated Stevens by around 14,000 votes. But in the weeks since, many have rallied around El-Sayed as the party’s nominee.
El-Sayed reported raising $2.4 million on Sunday, his largest fundraising day of the campaign, while the state party said it saw a surge of people volunteering to knock on doors. “I don’t think this changes the election results other than it galvanizes Democrats,” said Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel.
