A House Divided in Michigan: Haley Stevens Sticks With El-Sayed as Her Fiance Backs Mike Rogers

A House Divided in Michigan: Haley Stevens Sticks With El-Sayed as Her Fiance Backs Mike Rogers

Fiance Breaks Ranks Days Before Election Day

Days before the Nov. 3 election, Michigan's U.S. Senate race produced an awkward split inside one prominent Democratic household. Jason Turkish, a Jewish Democrat and disabilities and civil rights attorney from Huntington Woods who is engaged to Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham, told the Detroit News he intends to vote for Republican Mike Rogers over Democrat Abdul El-Sayed. Stevens lost narrowly to El-Sayed in the Aug. 4 Democratic primary.

Antisemitism Charge at the Center of the Split

Turkish said he had become convinced over the last three months that El-Sayed is an antisemite. He accused El-Sayed of using antisemitic language on the campaign trail, saying rhetoric about genocide in Gaza puts Jews at risk. He also pointed to El-Sayed's association with left-wing streamer Hasan Piker, who has faced accusations of antisemitism, noting that El-Sayed has not cut ties with Piker and has not campaigned with him since the August primary.

Stevens Responds on CNN: Still Backing Her Party's Nominee

Stevens moved quickly to contain the fallout. Appearing on CNN on the night of Oct. 28, she said hers is a household divided, but that she still very much wants the Democratic nominee to win. The statement ended speculation that she might follow her fiance toward Rogers. Stevens had endorsed El-Sayed soon after the primary, yet POLITICO reported she has rarely appeared alongside him since, saying El-Sayed is building a new coalition and it is not her place to push skeptical supporters into it.

Polls Show El-Sayed Ahead, Powered by Young Voters

The episode comes with El-Sayed leading in late polling. A CNN poll released Oct. 29 put El-Sayed at 49% among likely voters to 42% for Rogers. An earlier Glengariff Group survey found El-Sayed taking more than 77% of voters younger than 30 and 59.5% of those in their 30s, while Rogers won nearly 54% of seniors 65 and older and 57% of voters ages 40-49. Among independents, El-Sayed led 45.5% to 40%, with 15% undecided, a reversal from Labor Day, when Rogers led independents by nearly 42% to 28% with 29% undecided. The pollster called the youth numbers wild, noting Rogers lost voters aged 18 to 29 by just 3 points when he faced Elissa Slotkin in 2024, compared with a 56-point deficit to El-Sayed now.

An Open Seat That Could Decide the Senate

The seat, left open by retiring Sen. Gary Peters, could help determine control of the chamber. Decision Desk HQ gives El-Sayed a 67 percent chance of winning. Rogers, 63, an Army veteran and former FBI agent who served 14 years in Congress and chaired the House Intelligence Committee, lost his 2024 Senate bid by barely 19,000 votes out of more than 5.5 million cast. In their final debate, Rogers said Jewish Democrats are afraid of El-Sayed, while El-Sayed focused on the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC, which is planning to contribute as much as $9 million to a pro-Rogers super PAC. Voters decide on Nov. 3.