Rep. Haley Stevens’ (D-MI) fiancé says he will vote for Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan’s Senate election, accusing Democrat nominee Abdul El-Sayed of using rhetoric that puts Jewish residents at risk.
Jason Turkish, a Jewish attorney and Democrat donor, announced his decision less than a week before the November 3 election. El-Sayed defeated Stevens in the August Democrat primary and later received her support.
Turkish told The Detroit News that his concerns about El-Sayed had grown since the primary. He accused the candidate of antisemitism and said his criticism of Israel had consequences for Jewish people in Michigan.
“I’ve just seen an escalation in his rhetoric since the primary, and it makes folks unsafe. Every time he talks about genocide (in Gaza), Jews get death threats,” Turkish said.
Turkish, who practices disability and civil rights law and lives in Huntington Woods, said he had hoped El-Sayed would use the general election campaign to bring Democrats together after a primary marked by disagreements over Israel. Instead, he said, the campaign had deepened those divisions.
“We have never seen a candidate for U.S. Senate act so recklessly toward the safety of Jews in the community as we have seen from Abdul,” he added.
He described his support for Rogers as “putting country before party.”
El-Sayed’s campaign responded by emphasizing its efforts to attract voters ahead of Election Day.
“Abdul is focused on building a broad coalition to win Michigan and win back the Senate majority for Democrats. Our tent is big enough for all those who wish to join it,” campaign spokeswoman Roxie Richner said in a statement.
Turkish attended an event for Rogers on October 28 at the Townsend Hotel in Birmingham. The Republican Jewish Coalition sponsored the forum, which focused on Jewish security, the October 7 attacks, and the Temple Israel attack.
Stevens has endorsed El-Sayed, though The Detroit News reported that she had not publicly campaigned alongside him since a Democrat unity breakfast following the August 4 primary.
During a CNN appearance on Sunday, Stevens praised Rogers’ efforts to reach black voters in Detroit. Asked by host Dana Bash whether she remained fully behind El-Sayed, Stevens pointed to her own place on the Democrat ticket.
“Look, I’m on the Democratic ticket, you know. I can’t say that I agree with everything that’s gone on,” she said.
El-Sayed has repeatedly accused Israel of genocide during the general election campaign. In an October interview with ABC News, he said Israel was “not actually our friend” and accused the country of pulling the United States into wars it should not be fighting.
Earlier this month, he declined, during a Senate debate, to say whether Israel or Iran posed the greater threat, describing both as dangerous in different ways.
