Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., repeatedly stopped short of saying she was “fully behind” Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed when pressed on national television Sunday, months after he narrowly defeated her in a bitter primary and just days before the midterm elections.
CNN’s Dana Bash first pressed Stevens on why she has yet to campaign alongside El-Sayed despite endorsing him after the primary. Stevens responded by pointing to her work campaigning for Democratic House candidates across Michigan.
But when Bash later asked directly whether she was “still fully behind” El-Sayed, Stevens again stopped short of saying yes.
“Look, I’m on the Democratic ticket,” Stevens said. “I can’t say that I agree with everything that’s gone on.”
Stevens instead highlighted her support for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jocelyn Benson and House candidates, but not El-Sayed.
Bash pointed out that she had not mentioned him.
“Well, look, I would just say you asked me if I’m still on the team,” Stevens responded. “I’m on the team.”
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The exchange underscores lingering tensions inside the Michigan Democratic coalition following a contentious Senate primary that exposed divisions over Israel, Iran and the direction of the party. Stevens’ supporters included constituencies El-Sayed has been working to consolidate behind his campaign, particularly Black and Jewish voters, as he faces Republican Mike Rogers in the general election.
Stevens also suggested Sunday that El-Sayed has more work to do with some of the voters who backed her in the primary.
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When asked whether El-Sayed had done enough to reach her former supporters in Michigan’s Black and Jewish communities, Stevens pointed specifically to outreach she had urged him to make to Black voters.
“I had said to, you know, the coordinated campaign, I’m like, hey, give a speech in the Black community, right?” Stevens said.
“But yeah, I mean, that didn’t happen,” she added. “That speech hasn’t happened.”
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El-Sayed is facing former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers in the closely watched race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, with the Michigan seat central to the battle for control of the Senate.
The contest has emerged as a test of the Democratic Party’s progressive wing, with El-Sayed campaigning on policies including Medicare-for-all and an end to U.S. military aid to Israel, while Rogers has sought to portray him as outside Michigan’s political mainstream.