‘Despicable betrayal’ reopens a Democratic Party wound that won’t heal

Updated November 2, 2026 — 9:23am,first published November 2, 2026 — 7:06am

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Washington: US congresswoman Haley Stevens’ decision to endorse Republican Mike Rogers in the state of Michigan rips open a wound in the Democratic Party that it had nearly patched over until election day.

Stevens, a staunch supporter of Israel, lost the Democratic primary for a US Senate seat to Abdul El-Sayed, and pledged to unify the party after a bruising campaign that exposed deep rifts over the Israel/Palestine issue.

She lost to El-Sayed despite tens of millions of dollars in funding from the Israel lobby, money that turned out to be a curse rather than a gift. The best thing to do would be to humbly accept defeat and go home.

Now, on the eve of the midterms, in a seat Democrats really must win if they are to take control of the Senate, Stevens has endorsed US President Donald Trump’s candidate after appearing with him at church on Sunday morning.

“Who we are as Michiganders is not hate, and is not what we are getting out from our Democratic nominee right now,” she said in a video filmed in a car.

The stunning development caps a series of events that snowballed after Stevens condemned a TV advertisement by a group supporting El-Sayed that linked grocery costs to US military aid for Israel.

In the commercial, a wife tells her husband........

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