On the Last Day to Campaign Before the Midterms, Parties Make Closing Arguments as Michigan's Endorsement Rift Widens

Democrats sought on Monday to contain a rift in Michigan's U.S. Senate race after one of their own crossed party lines to endorse the Republican candidate, Reuters reported, as both parties made final pitches before Tuesday's midterm elections that will decide control of Congress. Rep. Haley Stevens, who lost the Michigan Democratic Senate primary to Abdul El-Sayed in a bitterly contested race, publicly backed Republican candidate Mike Rogers and appeared with him at a Detroit church, in a state viewed as crucial to Democratic hopes of retaking the U.S. Senate, according to the Reuters report read in full by this desk.

Stevens's endorsement came on the day she was scheduled to appear with El-Sayed in a show of party unity, Reuters reported, but the planned event unraveled after Stevens called on El-Sayed to condemn an outside group's ad that she said blames Israel for high grocery prices. “That ad was very painful,” Stevens told CNN on Sunday night, according to Reuters. In a video posted to social media, Stevens said, according to Reuters: “I don't belong in Abdul's campaign.” Rep. Debbie Dingell was among the party leaders who said the decision created a “distraction” for Democrats, Reuters reported, and a number of Stevens's congressional staff resigned over the endorsement, according to reports from CNN and the Hill cited by Reuters.

El-Sayed's campaign said it raised $1.2 million in the four hours after Stevens endorsed Rogers, making it the campaign's second-best fundraising day since the Democratic primary election in August, a campaign spokesperson told Reuters. A New York Times/Siena poll released and partly conducted on Sunday showed El-Sayed with a 53% to 42% lead over Rogers, Reuters reported. Stevens's mother, Maria Marcotte, told Reuters her daughter decided to endorse Rogers because of what she described as dangerous political rhetoric from El-Sayed.

The Michigan fight was not the only election dispute moving on Monday. Reuters also reported that a federal judge on Sunday dismissed a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit seeking to block certification of election results in Alaska if Republican incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan narrowly loses, a ruling this station covered when it landed. Polls open across the country on Tuesday, including in New Jersey, where Essex County voters cast ballots from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.