Representative Haley Stevens is criticizing Dr. Abdul El-Sayed as the Michigan Senate election nears. Although she plans to vote for him, she wants him to denounce certain campaign ads. "I want to encourage this campaign to shut out the hate," she said. This tension complicates his high-stakes midterm race.
Representative Haley Stevens has been less than enthusiastic about Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, injecting late intraparty tensions into a race that could decide Senate control.
Representative Haley Stevens of Michigan, who lost to Dr. Abdul El-Sayed in a bitter Democratic primary for Senate in August, has grown increasingly critical of him as the election draws near, injecting unusual intraparty tensions into the final days of a pivotal midterm contest.
While Ms. Stevens reiterated Wednesday night that she plans to vote for Dr. El-Sayed, she did so through seemingly gritted teeth in a televised interview just hours after her fiancé said that he would be voting for former Representative Mike Rogers, Dr. El-Sayed's Republican rival. She also called on Dr. El-Sayed to denounce an ad from an outside group that she has argued amounts to "fear-mongering about Israel," and to take down an ad from his campaign featuring Tucker Carlson.
"Of course, I'm voting for our Democratic nominee for Senate," Ms. Stevens said on CNN. "I'm voting for the Democratic ticket. But I want to encourage this campaign to shut out the hate and to call it out and to make people who are in my coalition, right -- make them feel comfortable about coming to the polls."
Ms. Stevens's remarks are an unwelcome development for Dr. El-Sayed in a high-stakes race. It is rare for the loser of a primary who has endorsed the winner to be publicly critical this close to the general election.
It's not the first time it has happened in this year's midterms. In Texas, Senator John Cornyn has missed few opportunities to needle Ken Paxton, who beat him for the Republican nomination in May. Mr. Paxton, however, has not made as many cable news appearances as Ms. Stevens.
Ms. Stevens, a staunch supporter of Israel, said on CNN that she is representing Jewish Michiganders who supported her and are angry about advertising that they view as antisemitic. The campaign of Dr. El-Sayed, a vocal critic of Israel, has said it was "not affiliated in any way" with the ad that has come under scrutiny. But Ms. Stevens said that does not go far enough.
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