On Sunday morning, two days before Michigan voted, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) walked into Perfecting Church in Detroit and took a seat beside Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers. She had been scheduled to attend a Detroit church service that same day with Abdul el Sayed, the man who narrowly beat her in the August Democratic primary, as a show of party unity. Instead, she was told she was no longer welcome. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI), who helped organize the event, said she asked Stevens to stay away because the situation had become too distracting. A few hours later, Stevens announced she would back Rogers.
The punishment arrived fast. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called it a “despicable betrayal.” Her chief of staff resigned. The chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party said she was no longer a member. On Tuesday night el Sayed won, and he is now headed to the U.S. Senate. By the usual Washington arithmetic, Stevens lost everything, and plenty of commentators will spend the coming years describing her decision as a political blunder.
