Then vs. Now · File No. 261103-334
Stevens called Rogers a Trump 'rubber stamp' in August. On Sunday she endorsed him
Rep. Haley Stevens, a Michigan Democrat, once wrote that Republican Mike Rogers lost 'fair and square' and would be a Trump 'rubber stamp.' Two days before Michigan's close Senate vote, she endorsed him. Her own posts show how far she moved.
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On Sunday, Nov. 1, two days before the election, Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens of Michigan endorsed Republican Mike Rogers for the U.S. Senate. She went to a church service in Detroit with him first 34. Rogers is running against Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, who narrowly beat Stevens in the August Democratic primary 3.
Democratic leaders have spent two days attacking the endorsement. A different story has had less attention: what Stevens herself said about Rogers before Sunday. Her public record shows a sharp turn, and some of it took place in less than a day.
Then: 'You lost fair and square'
Rogers was the Republican nominee for Senate in 2024. He lost to Democrat Elissa Slotkin by about 17,000 votes and conceded shortly after results showed that Slotkin would win, making no initial claims of fraud or wrongdoing. Official results and a routine audit confirmed that Slotkin won 2.
A year later his story changed. In an Oct. 17, 2025, speech in Muskegon, Rogers claimed, without evidence, that a van carrying ballots arrived at a Detroit counting site early on the morning after the 2024 election and swung the race against him. The Detroit News reported that he made a similar claim at an earlier October event 2.
From Channel GOPEl-Sayed lays out his case against Mike RogersAbdul El-Sayed · 137 plays · captioned, with the source named
Stevens answered him on X. The Michigan Advance reported in November 2025 that she wrote: "The 2024 election wasn't stolen" 2. Then she addressed Rogers directly:
Mike, you lost fair and square last year and you'll lose again next year.
In August 2026, after the primary, Stevens backed El-Sayed and went after Rogers again. On CNN on Sunday, Stevens' August social media post was read back, which said Rogers would be "another rubber stamp for Donald Trump's dangerous agenda" 1. In the same post, Stevens wrote, "We can't afford to give MAGA another Senate seat in November" 1. MAGA stands for "Make America Great Again," the slogan of President Trump's political movement.
The final week: 'I would vote for El-Sayed'
Stevens had promised all through the primary to endorse the Democratic nominee, and she did so after she lost 4. The Associated Press (AP) reported that she pledged after the primary to help El-Sayed. A few days before Sunday, she said publicly again that she would vote for the party's nominee 3.
Earlier last week, Stevens told CNN she would still vote for El-Sayed, even though her fiancé, Jason Turkish, planned to vote for Rogers 4. In that interview she also urged El-Sayed's campaign to "shut out the hate and call it out" 3. On Friday, Oct. 30, she criticized El-Sayed for not condemning an ad from an independent left-wing group that linked U.S. support for Israel to grocery prices. El-Sayed said his campaign did not make the ad and that he disagrees with what it says 3.
On Saturday evening, Stevens spoke with Democratic Reps. Debbie Dingell and Jamie Raskin. Both said she assured them she would vote for El-Sayed 1. Dingell asked her not to come to a Democratic unity event planned with El-Sayed and Rep. Jim Clyburn. Dingell said, "I'm the one who pulled it, because it had become way too distracting" 34.
Now: 'That's why I am endorsing Mike Rogers'
In a video on Sunday, Stevens said, "Our Democratic nominee for Senate said I was no longer welcome in his campaign and that I should stay away" 5. She added: "And that's why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States Senate today" 5. At the church, she said, "We have to stand with country. We can't stand with hate" 4.
That night, Cooper asked her several times what changed between Saturday night and Sunday morning. CBS News reported that she never answered directly 1. She told him she woke up "clear-eyed, fresh and, you know, focused," and also said:
Nothing with me changed, Anderson
Asked about her August warning against handing MAGA another seat, Stevens turned the question back on her own party 1:
Well, why is it OK to have the Democratic Party and a top nominee injecting ... this type of anger and lack of kindness?
The receipt from Rogers, and the reaction
Rogers welcomed the woman who had called his fraud claim false. He wrote on X that "Representative Haley Stevens is a courageous leader who deserves the respect of every Michigan voter" 1. At the church he said, "Candidly, I'm glad I'm not running against Haley Stevens today" 4. President Trump wrote, "Haley said what few people are willing to say" 1.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called the endorsement a "despicable betrayal from Rep. Stevens" 1. El-Sayed accused her of "relitigating a primary that ended three months ago" 1. Michigan Democratic Party chair Curtis Hertel said Stevens is "not a current member of the Michigan Democratic Party" 14. Her longtime chief of staff, Justin German, quit and urged voters to support El-Sayed 4.
one of the most painful interviews I have ever watched.
What the record shows
The pattern: none of Stevens' explanations say that Rogers changed. Her case against him in 2025 and in August rested on two things. He made an unproven claim that the 2024 election was stolen from him, and he would side with President Trump. Nothing in the reporting shows Rogers taking back the van claim. Stevens' stated reasons on Sunday were about El-Sayed and his campaign, not about Rogers 123.
That matters because the seat could decide who controls the Senate. Democratic Sen. Gary Peters is retiring and leaving it open 4. Early voting began Oct. 24, and more than 1.8 million Michiganders had already voted by Friday 3. If he wins, El-Sayed would be the country's first Muslim senator 4.
The Record
- In a Muskegon speech, Mike Rogers claims without evidence that a van of ballots in Detroit swung his 2024 Senate race, which he lost by about 17,000 votes 2.
- The Michigan Advance reports Haley Stevens' X post telling Rogers he 'lost fair and square' and that the 2024 election 'wasn't stolen' 2.
- Stevens criticizes El-Sayed for not condemning an outside group's ad, after saying earlier in the week that she would still vote for him 34.
- Reps. Debbie Dingell and Jamie Raskin say Stevens assured them Saturday evening that she would vote for El-Sayed 1.
- Stevens endorses Rogers after attending a Detroit church service with him, two days before the election 34.
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Sources
- CBS News, “Democrat Haley Stevens endorses Michigan GOP Senate candidate Mike Rogers amid rift with Abdul El-Sayed” (2026-11-02). cbsnews.com/news/haley-stevens-mike-rogers-together-church-a
- Michigan Advance (via Yahoo News), “Michigan Democrats rebuff Rogers' evidence-free claim that the 2024 election was also stolen” (2025-11-10). yahoo.com/news/articles/michigan-democrats-rebuff-rogers-evi
- AP via PBS News, “Stevens endorses Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan Senate race” (2026-11-01). pbs.org/newshour/politics/democrat-haley-stevens-endorses-go
- Bridge Michigan, “Haley Stevens endorses Mike Rogers, bucking Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan Senate race” (2026-11-01). bridgemi.com/michigan-politics/haley-stevens-joins-mike-roge
- AP via ABC News, “El-Sayed's primary opponent stuns Democrats by endorsing Republican opponent in Michigan Senate race” (2026-11-01). abcnews.com/US/wireStory/el-sayeds-primary-opponent-stuns-de
Found an error? Tell the newsroom. Corrections are noted at the top of the story.
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Dingell calls Stevens' CNN defense of Rogers endorsement 'painful' on eve of vote
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