WHITE LAKE, Mich. — Democratic US Representative Haley Stevens stated she has no regrets about casting a split-ticket ballot that supported Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers in Michigan, enduring heavy backlash from members of her own party ahead of election results.
Speaking to NewsNation on Tuesday while arriving at her polling place to vote, Stevens defended her choice to back Democrats down the ballot while opposing progressive Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, calling the decision worthwhile. Her endorsement drew swift and intense condemnation from fellow Democrats, with some calling for her removal from the party and attributing her decision to influence from her fiancé, Jason Turkish. Stevens rejected those claims, addressing critics in a social media post who suggested a man was pulling the strings by calling it "sexism dressed up as political analysis." Her mother, Maria Marcotte, also pushed back against the allegations in comments to the press.
Republican candidate Mike Rogers defended Stevens against the political vitriol, praising her actions as an example of putting "country over party." The high-profile Michigan Senate race has drawn national attention as one of the cycle's key contests that Republicans aim to flip, marked by intense character attacks, heavy advertising, and sharp ideological divisions regarding El-Sayed's platform.
