Haley Stevens did the right thing by bit endorsing Abdul el-Sayed

U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens proved her courage and integrity in Detroit on Sunday. She should serve as a role model for all aspiring politicians, yet many Democratic leaders sought to make a pariah of her.

“This is a despicable betrayal from Rep. Stevens,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer wrote in a social media post.

Given Schumer’s status as one of the two highest-ranking Democrats in Washington, not to mention the highest-ranking Jewish elected official, “this was the most unkindest cut of all,” as Marc Antony says of Brutus’ stabbing of Julius Caesar in the Shakespeare play.

Schumer and many of his fellow Democrats were so desperate to retake the majority of the Senate that they passionately stood behind Abdul el-Sayed, arguably the creepiest candidate to ever run as the Democratic nominee for a Senate seat. The Michigan senator-elect has played the religion card when critics assailed him for anti-Israel statements. He even got caught advising donors that to stop a pro-Israel critic, namely Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, to “put one ogre on a pike.”

Stevens, who is not Jewish, touched off a political explosion on Sunday when she withdrew her endorsement of el-Sayed after a series of incidents that resembled game-playing on el-Sayed’s part. She transferred her endorsement to Republican Mike Rogers.

El-Sayed, who is a Muslim, defeated her by 1 point during the Democratic primary in which the two rivals fought over support of Israel. They competed to replace the retiring Sen. Gary Peters, also a Democrat.

Last week, her fiancé Jason Turkish, who is Jewish, revealed that he will vote for Rogers. Then a television commercial emerged which depicted a couple shopping in a supermarket who gave up buying bananas because their tax dollars were being used to pay for Israeli military aid. El-Sayed claimed that he had nothing to do with the ad and said he disagreed with it.

Then Sunday afternoon, Stevens announced to the world that she was endorsing Rogers. The notion of endorsing a loyalist to President Trump was unthinkable until this election year when anti-Israel – if not antisemitic – characters materialized to run for office in the Senate and the House of Representatives. Many went on to win their elections on Tuesday, doubling the number of House members whose disdain for Israel – and in some cases for American Jews – extended far beyond legitimate concerns for the Jewish state’s military acts in Gaza.

Despite our disgust with Republican governance, at least the GOP did not throw American Jews under the bus. They did not create an environment that left the Jewish community petrified for its very existence.

Michigan party chair Curtis Hertel declared that Stevens “is not a current member of the Michigan Democratic Party, nor will she be in the future,” as quoted by the Associated Press.

How can Hertel expel her from the party? Michigan lacks party registration, but it is apparent that Stevens still considers herself to be a Democrat. Or is Hertel applying Sharia Law?

“Anyone who makes an election this important about themselves, and not Michiganders and our democracy, should think hard about whether they are serving the greater good,” Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, who is Jewish, wrote on X, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Her words reflected the views of many Democrats.

The question should not be why Stevens would break from her party but why her fellow Democrats would break from their country’s most vital interests.

They wanted the Democratic Party to recapture the Senate majority and they believed they could not accomplish that without retaining the Michigan seat. Many Jews wanted Democrats to retake the majority. I know I did.

It is too high a price to support anyone who refers to a rival like Fetterman as “one ogre on a pike.” El-Sayed was talking in terms of violence – medieval violence at that. No doubt some pro-Israel activists will wonder why Democrats did not resurrect Hitler while they were at it.

Besides, Schumer, Slotkin and friends could have freed themselves of their anxiety. I was convinced that Democrats would retake the Senate majority without el-Sayed’s help. Democrats won more Senate seats than even I projected and, at this writing, the party’s numbers could rise higher.

An apology to Stevens is in order. It was one thing to disagree with her decision, but remarks like “despicable betrayal” were cruel and mean.

Stevens’ feelings are overshadowed by the party’s responsibility to the country. Democrats need to reassess how to contend with problem candidates. Panic amid sensitive pressures is not an option.

Detractors immediately predicted that Stevens has no future in politics, unless she joins the Republican Party. Sure she has a future. She is 43 years old and has eight years of experience as a member of Congress. Not to mention that she passed one of the most agonizing tests that any human being can ever face. She earned my vote.

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Bruce S. Ticker is a Philadelphia-based columnist,