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<\/a><\/p>\nMichigan Democratic Representative Haley Stevens (L) endorses Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers (R). (Photo by Dominic Gwinn\/SOPA Images\/LightRocket via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think much about my former opponent,\u201d El-Sayed said to reporters afterward. \u201cI think a lot more about whether or not these young people are going to be able to afford the life that they\u2019re graduating into.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stevens, who is not Jewish but has been a longtime pro-Israel stalwart, was celebrated at the Yeshiva Beth Yehudah annual dinner as many members of her party across the country spoke out against her decision to break with El-Sayed. She had contested El-Sayed for the Senate nomination and had initially endorsed him before the former rivals split after trading barbs in the days leading up to Tuesday\u2019s vote.<\/p>\n
Video of Stevens\u2019 minute-long standing ovation was shared on social media by representatives of Agudath Israel of America, a major Orthodox advocacy group. Strongly pro-Israel Jews have largely lauded her move to Rogers, which she said came about in part because of her objections to El-Sayed\u2019s past relationship with anti-Israel streamer Hasan Piker.<\/p>\n
Also on Sunday evening, Stevens struggled to explain the timing of her decision in an interview with CNN\u2019s Anderson Cooper but stressed that she believed she was helping Democrats beat back antisemitism within their own party.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m trying to help the Democratic Party. I felt the same way about Graham Platner and his Nazi tattoo,\u201d Stevens said, referencing the Democratic Maine Senate candidate who ultimately stepped down from the nomination. Asked if she believed El-Sayed is antisemitic, she responded, \u201cI think some of the actions have certainly been antisemitic, Anderson, but I\u2019m just sick of who he stands with.\u201d <\/p>\n
She named Piker and \u201cthe uncle,\u201d referring to Piker\u2019s uncle Cenk Uygur, whose PAC recently released an ad supporting El-Sayed that blamed Israel for the price of groceries. After Stevens publicly pressured El-Sayed to condemn the ad\u2019s contents, the candidate appeared to do so on Saturday night, which Stevens celebrated in a statement \u2014 hours before endorsing Rogers.<\/p>\n
On CNN, Stevens suggested that many other Democrats felt the way she did. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been hearing from a ton of Dems, Anderson, who have said, \u2018Thank you. This is how we felt.\u2019 They haven\u2019t liked this campaign. It\u2019s painful,\u201d she said. A growing number of Michigan Jewish Democrats have pledged to vote for Rogers, though more than 1,000 have also signed a letter pledging to vote for El-Sayed.<\/p>\n
A Jewish Democrat in Georgia, state Rep. Esther Panitch, appeared to side with Stevens. Panitch tweeted on Sunday that the congresswoman had put \u201ccountry over party.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stevens\u2019 mother, Maria Marcotte, who also said she voted for Rogers, pointed to her daughter\u2019s treatment by pro-Palestinian activists during the primary campaign in a statement to CNN defending her decision.<\/p>\n
But that decision has played poorly even with Jewish and strongly pro-Israel figures among her own party. Michigan state Sen. Jeremy Moss, who is running for Stevens\u2019 House seat, and state Rep. Noah Arbit, who signed the \u201cNonnegotiable\u201d open letter petitioning El-Sayed to affirm \u201cJewish sovereignty in Israel\u201d and other issues, were among the vocal critics of her decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have severe concerns about [El-Sayed\u2019s] rhetoric redounding dangerously on Jews,\u201d Arbit wrote on X. \u201cBut the sane answer for anyone who claims to care about democracy, rule of law, minorities cannot be to embrace Rogers\u2019 disgusting, dangerous Islamophobia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stevens is a longtime beneficiary of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. AIPAC and affiliated groups spent nearly $30 million backing her primary Senate run, according to Fortune magazine.<\/p>\n
El-Sayed and Rogers made their closing cases to Jewish Michiganders in interviews on 60 Minutes Sunday. Rogers said he \u201cpassionately\u201d defended Israel\u2019s right to exist and defend itself, adding that his opponent \u201crefuses to even acknowledge that Israel has the right to exist.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked by CBS journalist Ross Douthat whether Israel has the right to exist, El-Sayed said \u201cYes,\u201d qualifying that the form of a future state or states for Israelis and Palestinians depended on a \u201cshared understanding\u201d between the groups. He repeated his views that Israel committed genocide in Gaza and that he did not want \u201cmy taxes to buy another country a bomb or a tank.\u201d<\/p>\n
El-Sayed said Jewish voters should trust him regardless of their \u201cdisagreements\u201d about Israel because \u201cthere are a lot more of things that we agree on here.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it comes to standing up for Jewish Americans, I will be right there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Yeshiva Beth Yehudah is spread across multiple suburban Detroit campuses and is the largest Jewish day school in the state. Its annual fundraising dinner, \u201cAn Evening of Unity,\u201d is known for drawing big national names in politics and the media, usually from both major parties. <\/p>\n
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, was the evening\u2019s keynote speaker, and the gala program also featured personal letters from President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.<\/p>\n
But it was Stevens, a regular supporter of the school, who turned the most heads. She was presented with what the emcee called \u201ca specially designed, illuminated book of the five scrolls of our prophets, which remind you all of our heartfelt esteem and appreciation for who you are.\u201d <\/p>\n