Breaking
Vice President JD Vance says Rep. Haley Stevens’ endorsement of Republican Mike Rogers will boost Rogers in Michigan’s high-stakes U.S. Senate race. “I certainly think it helps,” Vance told reporters, according to Fox News Digital. He then drew a blunt contrast between the two candidates: “El-Sayed is a crazy person and Mike Rogers is a patriot.”
Vance spoke to reporters at Joint Base Andrews on Monday after headlining two Republican rallies in New York and Ohio. He was responding to a Fox News Digital question about whether Stevens’ endorsement would help Rogers against Democrat Abdul El-Sayed. Vance said the endorsement might give some voters who would not normally back a Republican “permission” to do so. He called Rogers a “good guy” and said Michigan voters see El-Sayed as a “crazy guy” who would be bad for the state.
Details & Background
Stevens, a Michigan Democrat who lost the August Senate primary to El-Sayed, endorsed Rogers on Sunday, Nov. 1, at Perfecting Church in Detroit. She said El-Sayed had told her she was no longer welcome in his campaign. “And he’s right, and that’s why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States Senate today,” Stevens said. “I don’t belong in Abdul’s campaign.” She had pressed El-Sayed to condemn an outside group’s ad that she called antisemitic, and she has criticized his ties to left-wing streamer Hasan Piker. El-Sayed says his campaign did not make the ad and disagrees with it.
Vance has been one of El-Sayed’s sharpest critics throughout the race, campaigning repeatedly in Michigan for Rogers. On Monday, he rallied in airport hangars in New York and Ohio, backing candidates including Ohio Sen. Jon Husted and Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Donald Trump Jr. joined him on the trail. The Michigan race is one of the closest in the country. A New York Times/Siena poll released Sunday had El-Sayed ahead 53% to 42% among likely voters, but Rogers disputes that result.
Reactions
Rogers says the endorsement caught even his own campaign off guard. “We didn’t know what was going to happen. We were driving to the church yesterday morning when the call came in,” Rogers said Monday on “The Brian Kilmeade Show,” according to Fox News. He said Stevens’ decision “flipped this thing upside down” and praised her as “a congresswoman who just stood up and said, ‘America is more important than my party right now.’” Asked whether he offered Stevens anything in return, Rogers said, “Absolutely not.” He added that his internal numbers show a much tighter race than the public polls. “Our polling, our modeling and polling shows this is tied or we’re up by two,” he said.
Democrats reacted with fury. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the endorsement a “despicable betrayal,” and Rep. Nancy Pelosi accused Stevens of “dangerously” betraying Michigan families. President Donald Trump praised Stevens, telling supporters, “She was very brave in doing it,” and adding, “I’d love her to join the Republican Party, actually.” El-Sayed has focused on his own message in the race’s final hours. “I’m running for Senate because no Michigander deserves to be left behind,” he wrote in a Monday op-ed.
Why This Matters to You
Michigan has not elected a Republican to the U.S. Senate in decades, and the seat could decide which party controls the chamber for the next two years. Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority, and Democrats need a net gain of four seats to take over. A Republican-controlled Senate is what allows President Trump to confirm judges, Cabinet officials and national security nominees. Losing it would hand Democrats the power to block those nominees and to stall the administration’s agenda on border security, taxes and foreign policy.
Vance’s comments also point to a larger question about what Michigan voters will decide today. Stevens’ endorsement tests whether a Democrat’s warning about her own party’s nominee can move the swing voters who decide close races. If enough Democrats and independents take the “permission” Vance described, Rogers could pull off one of the biggest wins of the night. If they do not, El-Sayed would head to Washington as one of the most left-wing members of the Senate. Either way, the result in Michigan could shape the balance of power in Washington for years to come.
