New turn in Michigan Senate race: El-Sayed asks Stevens to stay away from campaign events
Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Michigan's tightly fought US Senate seat, has asked Democratic congresswoman Haley Stevens to stay away from his campaign events. The public dispute has again brought Democratic tensions into the spotlight.
After a campaign rally, El-Sayed told reporters, 'I don't want any distractions.' According to the New York Times, he added, 'It seems as though other folks are more interested in making this race about things that it's not about.'
The two had been scheduled to appear together on Sunday at a church service in Detroit.
The public rupture between the progressive El-Sayed and the more moderate Stevens has drawn Democratic attention. El-Sayed defeated Stevens in a bitter primary. The seat is seen as one of the most consequential contests in the Democrats' campaign to retake control of the Senate.
Stevens endorsed El-Sayed shortly after he won the primary in August, and had planned to campaign with him on Sunday.
But Stevens had until now avoided appearing publicly with her former opponent and has criticised him publicly for weeks. Her fiance, Jason Turkish, has campaigned on behalf of Republican candidate Mike Rogers.
Just two days before they were scheduled to campaign together, Stevens demanded that El-Sayed denounce an outside group's political ad. The ad blamed higher prices on US support for Israel's war in Gaza.
In response, El-Sayed said in a statement, 'Congresswoman Stevens seems intent on relitigating a primary that ended three months ago.' The statement noted that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee spent heavily to defeat him in the primary.
In the statement, El-Sayed said, 'Let's all focus on the task at hand: that's beating Mike Rogers, holding Trump accountable, and getting money out of politics, putting money in pockets, and passing Medicare for All.'
The open feuding worries many Democrats, who see the tight race as a must-win for the party to win back the Senate.
Michigan state senator Mallory McMorrow told CNN on Friday, 'I have no idea what the hell Haley Stevens is doing. This is a moment where we have to recognize the stakes. People are not talking about ads. They are not talking about Haley Stevens. They are talking about the price of gas and groceries.'
