Haley Stevens endorsement of Republican has been a financial windfall for Democrat Abdul El-Sayed
The campaign for Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed reported raising more than $2.4 million Sunday after his former primary rival announced a bombshell endorsement of the Republican nominee.
Rep. Haley Stevens’s last-minute endorsement of Mike Rogers, two days before Election Day, triggered a mass exodus of her office staff, widespread condemnation from Democratic officials — and a massive outpouring of support for El-Sayed.
El-Sayed’s campaign reported more than 65,000 individual donations on Sunday, nearly half of which came from first-time donors, according to campaign spokesperson Cole Wozniak. The average donation was roughly $37, contributing to a single-day fundraising haul, according to the campaign.
“This record-breaking grassroots fundraising haul is a testament to the excitement that Abdul’s movement has inspired in the hearts of Michiganders — and a rejection of the status quo politics that’s left Michigan behind for far too long,” Wozniak said Monday.
Among the seven battleground states that are likely to determine whether Democrats win control of the Senate, the widest gap is in Michigan, where El-Sayed is polling ahead of Rogers by more than 10 points — 53 to 42 percent, according to the latest New York Times/Siena poll.
Following her defeat in the state’s Democratic primary election in August, the congresswoman initially endorsed her former opponent, telling CNN as recently as three days ago that she plans to vote for the entire Democratic ticket.
But that all evaporated on Sunday, when she appeared alongside Rogers in Detroit.
The head of the state’s Democratic Party said Stevens had “abandoned everything she claims to care about.”
“Mike Rogers is Donald Trump’s hand-picked candidate for Senate, a rubber stamp for Trump’s toxic agenda, and a corrupt politician looking out only for himself,” Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel said in a statement.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is poised to lead the upper chamber if Democrats win control of the Senate, called the endorsement a“despicable betrayal.”
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that the congresswoman had “chosen to dangerously betray Michigan families’ healthcare, freedoms and future with her horrific endorsement.”
Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton called it “a sideshow.”
“I think what really matters is the people of Michigan don’t get caught up in what is a distraction,” she told The View on Monday.
The fallout started as the primary race began over El-Sayed’s criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza, underscoring a wider fracture among Democrats over U.S. support for Israel, an issue that is likely to dominate Congress under a Democratic majority.
