Less than two days before the vote, Democratic Congresswoman Haley Stevens backs Republican candidate in Michigan

In Michigan, with less than 48 hours left before Election Day, Democratic Representative Haley Stevens has endorsed Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers, spurning her party's nominee Abdul El-Sayed.

The announcement followed a surprise appearance with Rogers at a church in Detroit on Sunday, after months in which Stevens had proclaimed support for the Democratic ticket.

In a video posted to social media, Stevens said the Democratic nominee, Abdul, had said she was no longer welcome in his campaign and that she should stay away. “And he's right,” she said, adding: “And that's why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the U.S. Senate today.”

Stevens had originally been scheduled to attend a different church event in Detroit on Sunday alongside El-Sayed and Representative James Clyburn. The planned joint appearance was meant to be a unifying event for the party ahead of the election.

But on Friday, Stevens set a condition for her participation — that El-Sayed reject an ad and apologise for rhetoric she considered inflammatory and offensive. The event with El-Sayed and Clyburn went ahead without Stevens.

In her endorsement, Stevens said she does “not stand with Hasan Piker,” a streamer El-Sayed campaigned with during the primary. In August, after controversy over a comment by Piker, El-Sayed sought to distance himself, saying Piker did not speak for the campaign, but stopped short of disavowing him.

Stevens had been critical that El-Sayed was not doing enough to reassure Jewish and Black voters who supported her during the primary. Relations between the pair had been publicly disintegrating for weeks, yet Stevens' announcement was still a surprise.

Tensions accelerated after Stevens' fiance, Jason Turkish, said he planned to vote for Rogers. In a subsequent TV appearance, Stevens had maintained she was still planning to support the Democratic nominee.

Outside a “Souls to the Polls” event at a church in Detroit, El-Sayed told reporters he does not think about Stevens and said voters do not either. “None of this matters,” he said, before pointing to families worried about their children's schools, lunch and paying bills if a child gets sick.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called Stevens' decision a “despicable betrayal.”

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel said in a statement that campaigning with Rogers shows Stevens has abandoned everything she claims to care about, describing Rogers as a man who has repeatedly sold out Michigan's working class and wants to pass a national abortion ban.

Stevens' communications director has an email auto-reply saying that as of Sunday he is no longer working for the Stevens office. On social media, several former campaign staffers criticised their former boss's actions.

The clash between the two Michigan Democrats highlights a broader rift within the party as it relates to Israel and rhetoric around Israel.