Haley Stevens demands El-Sayed apology before joint Detroit church appearance

A feud that outlasted the primary

Michigan Representative Haley Stevens lost the Democratic Senate primary to Abdul El-Sayed in August, and the two have traded criticism ever since. El-Sayed, a progressive and outspoken critic of Israel, is the party's nominee against former Representative Mike Rogers, the Republican. At the first Senate debate this October, El-Sayed was asked whether Iran or Israel posed the greater threat to the United States and called the question a 'ridiculous hypothetical'. Stevens found that answer unacceptable and has since appeared in a string of cable television interviews that grew more critical of him. Her endorsement of him has become shakier by the day.

A joint appearance, then a new demand

On Thursday, 29 October, Stevens said she would campaign with El-Sayed that weekend, and it looked as though the feud had eased. By Friday, 30 October, her statement had set out new conditions. She expected El-Sayed to apologize for his remarks about Israel, to disavow an ad from an outside group and to take down a campaign ad that features Tucker Carlson. The outside ad, made by Rebellion PAC rather than El-Sayed's campaign, shows grocery shoppers complaining that prices are high because of US support for Israel, and Stevens called it antisemitic. El-Sayed had already distanced himself from it.

The joint church service in Detroit is set for Sunday, 1 November, and is meant as a peace offering brokered by Representatives Debbie Dingell and James E. Clyburn of South Carolina. Stevens said she was 'honored' to attend church with Clyburn, but she framed her own attendance as conditional on the disavowal. In her statement she argued that a disclaimer falls short of what she wants.

“A disclaimer is not a condemnation, and everyone in my community knows the difference.”

El-Sayed pushed back on Friday, reminding her that he had beaten her in August. His statement continued:

“Congresswoman Stevens seems intent on relitigating a primary that ended three months ago.”

Pelosi and the wider party

Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, 86, added to the debate in a podcast interview with host Donny Deutsch. Deutsch confronted her with reported remarks by El-Sayed and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani suggesting that Israel has no right to exist. Pelosi said views denying Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state were more than concerning and wrong, and that no Democrat holding them speaks for the party as a whole. She said it remained to be seen whether El-Sayed would be elected to Congress, and she said she hoped Mamdani would succeed as mayor while disagreeing with some of his statements. A spokesperson for Pelosi later told the New York Times that she still urges voters to back El-Sayed despite differences on some issues. Stevens's fiancé said he would vote for Rogers, criticizing El-Sayed's position on Israel as dangerous for American Jews, and the joint appearance was announced after that.

A party split across its core coalitions

At a rally with the state's Democratic ticket, El-Sayed stood on stage with the president he once criticized and a moderate secretary of state who is running for governor. Asked whether the show of solidarity proved the party was united, El-Sayed said 'I think it should'. Reporting from Southfield, a predominantly Orthodox Jewish suburb about 15 minutes north of Detroit, found Jewish voters divided over him. Some residents embraced him as the 'Mamdani of Michigan', while others rejected his stance on Israel. The next scheduled step is the Sunday service in Detroit, with Election Day to follow.