Michigan’s Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed has asked his former primary rival, Rep. Haley Stevens, to stay away from all of his remaining campaign events before Tuesday’s election, according to people familiar with the decision cited by CBS News and Politico. The move ends what had been an 11th-hour attempt to show a united front in one of the most closely watched Senate races in the country.
The request came after a day of public sniping between the two Democrats on Friday, just as they had been expected to make a rare joint appearance.
A planned show of unity falls apart
Stevens had said she would join El-Sayed on Sunday, Nov. 1, at a Detroit church alongside South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, a senior Democratic leader. It would have been her first time on the campaign trail with El-Sayed. The two have not appeared together since a Democratic unity event in August, after El-Sayed narrowly defeated Stevens in a bitter primary.
By Saturday morning, an advisory for the Sunday event sent by the El-Sayed campaign listed only El-Sayed and Clyburn, NBC News reported. A person familiar with the decision told NBC that the campaign was concerned about distractions around Stevens.
What Stevens demanded
On Friday, Stevens released a lengthy statement calling on El-Sayed to condemn a video ad from an outside group, Rebellion PAC, that she called antisemitic. In the ad, a couple in a grocery store talk about putting a carton of eggs back because “we have to set that $7 aside for killing Palestinians,” then complain about U.S. military support for Israel.
Stevens also demanded that El-Sayed apologize for suggesting during the campaign that “Israel is the reason Michigan cannot afford schools, health care, and child care.” “Abdul promises to get money out of politics,” she said. “He can begin by getting Israel out of his explanation for everything Michigan cannot afford.”
She further called on him to take down one of his own ads featuring Tucker Carlson, the podcaster and former Fox News host.
El-Sayed’s campaign had said earlier in the week that it was not affiliated “in any way” with the Rebellion PAC ad. “No one speaks for Abdul but himself and his campaign,” it said.
El-Sayed fires back
El-Sayed responded Friday evening that Stevens “seems intent on relitigating a primary that ended three months ago,” and said his campaign’s focus is on affordability and health care.
“That focus is why our people-powered campaign defeated a historic $70M in outside spending from big corporations and AIPAC on behalf of Congresswoman Stevens,” El-Sayed said, referring to the pro-Israel lobbying group that backed Stevens in the primary. He urged Democrats to “focus on the task at hand: beating Mike Rogers.”
A household divided
The fight comes days after Stevens’ fiancé, Jason Turkish, told The Detroit News he would vote for the Republican nominee, former Rep. Mike Rogers. Stevens said in a CNN interview that she would still vote for El-Sayed, calling it “a household divided,” while urging his campaign “to shut out the hate and to call it out.”
Other Michigan Democrats have grown openly frustrated. “First of all, I have no idea what the hell Haley Stevens is doing,” state Sen. Mallory McMorrow said Friday on CNN. “This is a moment where we have to recognize the stakes.”
Why it matters
The open seat, left by retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, is rated a toss-up by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, and it is seen as pivotal in the fight for control of the Senate. Rogers has been working to win over centrist Democratic voters, and he has said Stevens is welcome to join him at his campaign events.
Voters head to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 3.