Democrat Haley Stevens Joins GOP's Mike Rogers at Detroit Church

Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens appeared Sunday morning at a Detroit church alongside Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers, two days before Michigan voters decide one of the most closely watched Senate races in the country, according to reports from the Associated Press, Bridge Michigan and FOX 2 Detroit.

Stevens, who narrowly lost the August Democratic primary to Abdul El-Sayed, joined Rogers as a special guest at Perfecting Church, FOX 2 Detroit reported. Video posted on X by Michigan Chronicle reporter Sam Robinson shows Rogers arriving with Stevens, and Robinson later posted that Rogers sat next to Stevens during the service.

Stevens says she’s for investing in Black owned businesses. “And that’s the policy that Mike’s going to take on,” Stevens says. pic.twitter.com/AdPPFxGyEC

— Sam Robinson (@samueljrob) November 1, 2026

In brief remarks before walking into the church, Stevens said she supports investing in Black-owned businesses, “and that’s the policy Mike’s going to take on,” according to Robinson’s video, as quoted by Bridge Michigan.

Uninvited from the unity event

The appearance came one day after Stevens was told not to join El-Sayed on the campaign trail, FOX 2 Detroit reported. Bridge Michigan and the AP reported that Stevens had originally been set to appear with El-Sayed and South Carolina Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn at a separate Detroit church event on Sunday billed as a “unity rally.”

According to Bridge Michigan, those plans fell apart after a dispute over Israel and an outside group’s campaign advertisement escalated into a public exchange of criticism between Stevens and El-Sayed.

Michigan Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell, who helped organize the planned joint appearance, told the AP she asked Stevens not to attend. “I’m the one who pulled it because it had become way too distracting,” Dingell said, according to the AP report published by Bridge Michigan. Dingell added that “Mike Rogers loved every minute of it.”

MS NOW reported that Stevens endorsed El-Sayed days after the primary and appeared with him at a unity breakfast in August, but the two had not campaigned together since. MS NOW called Sunday’s appearance “a highly unusual move for a sitting Democrat” in the final days of a race the party is fighting to hold.

Fiance backs Rogers

FOX 2 Detroit reported that Stevens’ fiance, Jason Turkish, has announced he will vote for Rogers on Tuesday. Stevens herself has not said she is voting for Rogers, and she has not withdrawn her endorsement of El-Sayed in any statement Daily Beltway has seen.

Late Saturday, Stevens released a statement saying she was glad to see El-Sayed disagree with the content of the outside ad, according to Bridge Michigan. “Whenever anyone tries to set us against each other, we have an obligation to stand up and fight back,” Stevens wrote.

A seat that could decide the Senate

El-Sayed, a former Michigan public health official, and Rogers, a former congressman endorsed by President Trump, are locked in a tight race for the open seat held by retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, according to the AP. Keeping the seat is considered vital to Democrats’ hopes of winning a Senate majority, the AP reported.

Dingell and other Democrats insist the party is united behind El-Sayed, according to the AP. But the sight of the Democrat who nearly won the nomination sitting beside the Republican nominee in a Detroit church, 48 hours before polls open, hands Rogers a closing image that Democrats had worked all weekend to avoid.

Early voting in Michigan has been underway since Oct. 24, Bridge Michigan reported. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Sources

• Bridge Michigan / Associated Press
• FOX 2 Detroit
• MS NOW
• Sam Robinson, Michigan Chronicle, on X

Reporting by Daily Beltway.