Democratic Representative Haley Stevens endorsed Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan’s Senate race on Sunday, two days before the midterm elections, after attending a service with him at Perfecting Church, a majority-Black church in Detroit. Stevens said she would vote for Rogers and argued that ‘we must put the country first,’ while saying she could not condone hate or support Hasan Piker, a controversial streamer who had taken part in campaign events for Democrat Abdul El-Sayed. She said she had not yet voted and that ‘90%’ of her votes would go to Democrats.
The endorsement set off immediate fallout. Her chief of staff, Justin German, resigned along with ‘many members’ of her team, telling The New York Times he was ‘deeply saddened’ by her decision to back Rogers over El-Sayed. Her communications director, Logan Basch, also left. Curtis Hertel, chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, accused Stevens of having ‘abandoned everything she claims to defend.’ Virgie Rollins, president of the Michigan Democratic Party Black Caucus, accused her of using Black residents of Michigan for a political stunt after Stevens made the announcement following the church service.
Stevens insisted her support for Rogers was ‘not at all anti-Muslim,’ an assertion that came as President Donald Trump had falsely described El-Sayed as a ‘jihadist.’ Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer reaffirmed his support for El-Sayed and condemned attacks he called racist, Islamophobic and completely false. Trump, meanwhile, praised Stevens on Truth Social, describing her as a highly respected Democrat with broad support, including among Black and Jewish residents of Michigan, and saying she had shown courage and remarkable loyalty to the state’s residents.
The break followed a bitter primary. Stevens narrowly lost to El-Sayed in August, and she has criticized his positions on Israel. Tensions revived around an advertisement by an independent left-wing group that linked U.S. aid to Israel to high food prices. El-Sayed said Saturday that his campaign was not behind the ad and that he did not share its content; Stevens welcomed the clarification. Representative Debbie Dingell said she had asked Stevens not to attend the Detroit service to avoid disrupting it with her dispute with El-Sayed, and that the bishop had begun to grow annoyed because it was a real religious service. El-Sayed attended a separate service with several Democratic figures, including South Carolina Representative Jim Clyburn. Dingell said Rogers ‘savored every moment’ of the division.
The electoral impact of Stevens’s endorsement is uncertain. A CNN poll published Thursday put El-Sayed ahead with 49% of voting intentions to Rogers’s 42%, with 95% of likely Democratic voters supporting El-Sayed.
In Alaska, U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason on Sunday rejected a preemptive request by the Trump administration to block certification of a possible defeat for Republican Senator Dan S. Sullivan. The Justice Department had cited the risk of confusion with a same-name candidate, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., who was recruited by a Democratic consultant linked to Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign to draw votes from the incumbent, according to a New York Times investigation. Peltola and national Democratic Party officials denied any connection to the candidacy. The administration asked the court to block certification if votes for the namesake could change the result and then to investigate whether those voters had intended to vote for the senator. Gleason said the government did not explain how such an inquiry could preserve ballot secrecy, and that federal intervention during an election risked causing the very confusion the administration said it wanted to avoid. Alaska election authorities opposed the request, noting that the ballot distinguished the candidates by name, party affiliation and the incumbent’s office.
Sullivan said on CNN that he would accept the result of the Senate election even if he lost to Peltola. He denounced what he called the contempt of his rival and her team for Alaskans, while leaving it to lawyers to determine whether the alleged conduct amounted to an offense. Trump has demanded prosecutions, and investigations have been opened by Alaska authorities and the federal Justice Department. Sullivan concluded by urging Alaskans to vote and not to let the election be stolen.
With the election set for Tuesday, Trump was expected to deliver a closing campaign speech Monday at the Reflecting Pool in Washington, according to CNN, citing people familiar with the matter. The president planned to discuss the reopening of the pool and renovation projects in the capital while also making a broader appeal to voters. Some advisers had urged him to avoid emphasizing those projects near the election, as they have drawn criticism that he is focused on the wrong priorities amid concerns about affordability. Trump was due back in Washington after rallies Sunday in Iowa and Kansas.
Trump also told Fox News’s Miranda Devine that he could become ‘Mr. Veto’ if Democrats win control of Congress, saying he would veto Democratic legislation before negotiating possible compromises. He said he hoped Republicans would keep Congress. In the interview, he promoted his economic record, claiming that individual incomes and employment had never been higher, that poverty figures were the best ever recorded, that the U.S. military was the strongest and that the country was returning to industrial production. Polls cited in the live coverage suggested his unpopularity gave Democrats a chance to win at least one chamber.
Officials and news organizations also sought to prepare voters for possible delays in results. In 2024, according to Associated Press data presented by The New York Times, 96% of votes had been counted by midnight in South Carolina and 95% in Ohio, compared with 46% in Michigan and 33% in Maine. By noon the next day, Michigan had reached 99% and Maine 80%. In Alaska, where the last polls close at 1 a.m. Eastern, 75% had been counted by midday. Tight margins, mail ballots that require verification, differing state rules and ranked-choice voting in Maine and Alaska can all prolong the count. PBS News published a post explaining that it is normal not to know all results on election night and that a candidate trailing early can move ahead as counting proceeds; the White House replied on X, ‘No, it is not normal.’
Sources: Le Monde International.