While speaking in off-the-cuff interviews outside Michigan polling places on Tuesday, voters indicated that U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens’ (D-MI) stunning last-minute decision to endorse Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers did indeed sway their votes and attitudes towards the GOP. Stevens was narrowly defeated by Democrat nominee Abdul El-Sayed in the state’s Democratic primary campaign earlier this year, and had initially endorsed her former opponent before a bitter falling out down the stretch.
One Michigan voter told local outlet WWMT that Stevens’ endorsement of Rogers convinced her to support his candidacy. “It’s almost like her endorsing him is giving people permission to change their minds,” the woman said outside a Kalamazoo polling location.
“You’re allowed to change party sides and vote for who you think will be best for Michigan, and not necessarily just vote straight ticket,” she added.
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“I’m glad that she stood up to let them know, change is possible, and it’s ok no matter how anybody thinks of you,” another voter told CBS News when asked about the endorsement.
One woman who voted in the Democratic primary told CNN that she was supporting the Republican Party for the first time in her life. “So you voted for Stevens in the primary but now you want a Republican?” the voter was asked outside a polling place in White Lake, to which she answered in the affirmative. “That’s a pretty bold message,” the CNN reporter noted.
Another man told the outlet that he voted for Rogers and cited issues with El-Sayed’s rhetoric as a primary factor. When asked whether he had voted for a Republican in the past, the man responded with, “never.”
The reporter then followed up by asking why he voted against CNN. “Because I’m against hate,” the voter replied.
The interviews come after Stevens’ bombshell endorsement two days before Election Day. Stevens, who lost the August primary to El-Sayed by roughly one percentage point, appeared with Republican nominee Mike Rogers at a Detroit church service before endorsing him immediately afterwards.
Stevens said the decision followed El-Sayed’s statement that she was no longer welcome on his campaign and should stay away from its events. The two had clashed earlier in the week over an advertisement from an outside group supporting El-Sayed that linked higher grocery prices to U.S. aid to Israel, which Stevens described the ad as antisemitic and asked El-Sayed to disavow it.
Stevens had previously indicated she would back the Democratic nominee and, according to colleagues, had told them as late as Saturday night that she planned to vote for El-Sayed. She stated she remained a Democrat and intended to support other Democratic candidates down the ballot.
The endorsement represents a significant curveball in what analysts and polling averages have pegged as one of the closest Senate races in the country, which could decide the balance of power in the chamber.
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[ H/T Trending Politics ]
