Haley Stevens' Chief Of Staff And Others Resign Amid Mike Rogers Endorsement
Justin German, Rep. Haley Stevens’ (D-Mich.) chief of staff, said he and many members of his team have resigned amid Stevens’ endorsement of Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers.
“This election is too important to sow division or stand on the sidelines,” German said Sunday in a statement. “We are shocked and heartbroken by Congresswoman Stevens’ decision to support Mike Rogers.”
German said he and his team support Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, and he encouraged everyone to “vote for Abdul and Democrats up and down the ballot.”
In an automated email to HuffPost, Stevens’ communications director also said Sunday was his last day with the legislator.
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Haley Stevens Struggles To Provide Direct Explanation For Her About Face On Mike Rogers
Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) on Sunday struggled to explain why she made a shock endorsement of Republican Mike Rogers in the Michigan Senate race.
Stevens was pressed on the question during a CNN interview after reporting revealed how abrupt the decision seemed. According to The Washington Post, a longtime friend of Stevens said the lawmaker had texted about attending a church service with Democrat Abdul El-Sayed on Sunday as recently as Saturday evening.
CNN anchor Anderson Cooper repeatedly asked Stevens what had changed between Saturday night and her endorsement announcement on Sunday. Stevens, however, refrained from offering a clear reason, while broadly alluding to issues of “anger” and disagreements over El-Sayed’s association with Twitch streamer Hasan Piker.
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Trump Again Lashes Out Over Obama’s ‘Cheesecake Factory’ Comment
President Donald Trump on Sunday lashed out again over a jab former President Barack Obama made about the ostentatious decor he’s installed at the White House.
During a rally last weekend, Obama had said that Trump’s gold accoutrements made the building look like “Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.”
Trump griped about that comment last week and did so again at an Iowa midterms event on Sunday.
“You know why I fix the White House? Because it was in very bad shape, broken windows, broken moldings on the outside of the building,” Trump said. “...And then I have Barack Hussein Obama going ‘He wants to fix the…something about Cheesecake Factory.’ No, it’s actually a good company. I like the cheesecake. I know the cheesecake. He shouldn’t be saying, he shouldn’t be disparaging it, actually.”
Trump also made another seemingly racially coded aside, while repeating claims that the White House was falling into disrepair.
“It can’t have exterior moldings half falling off, it can’t have broken windows at the main entrance where the windows have been broken for years. It can’t have all of these things Barack,” Trump said. “I’ll teach you that sometime, cleanliness. I’ll teach you cleanliness. I’ll teach you a little bit about real estate.”
New Poll Has Democrats Ahead In Multiple Battleground Senate Races
A new New York Times/Siena poll has Democrats ahead in multiple battleground Senate races, including Michigan, Maine, and Ohio. Democrats were also in the lead in Texas and Kansas, which have typically leaned Republican.
In Michigan, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed had 53% of likely voters’ support compared to Republican Mike Rogers’s 42%. In Texas, Democrat James Talarico had 50% support to Republican Ken Paxton’s 43%. And in Maine, Democrat Troy Jackson had 51% to Republican Susan Collins’s 45%. The margins were tighter in Ohio and Kansas, and even narrower in Alaska and Iowa.
The polling adds to data that highlights a favorable environment for Democrats this election cycle given blowback against President Donald Trump’s war on Iran and rising costs of living. Democrats need to hold their existing Senate seats and flip four others to win back control of the chamber.
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Kansas Senate Republican Defied Top Advisers To Make Ad On Medical Debt Attacks: NYT
Republican Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), who’s in the midst of a competitive reelection race, defied members of his team to put together an ad personally responding to attacks over medical debt, according to a report from The New York Times.
That ad sought to address scrutiny over lawsuits Marshall filed as a full-time physician to collect patients’ medical debts. At least 81 people were arrested during the process when patients didn’t show up to court, according to The Times. The interest rate on outstanding debts was also 18%.
Marshall’s top advisers had opposed the idea of the ad with the election just a few weeks out. Marshall reportedly filmed one anyway and sent it to people, even after campaign leaders tried to stop its release.
In the video, Marshall discussed handing over some accounts to a collections agency and framed it as part of standard steps that medical practices had to take.
“My involvement in any patient’s account ended the minute it was turned over to an outside agency,” he said. “I never had anyone arrested.”
Marshall is in a tight race against Democratic challenger Adam Hamilton, who has homed in on the issue in an ad detailing how people have been arrested and had wages garnished over the medical debts they faced.
“If the best that our haters have is a video that the campaign hasn’t posted or isn’t running anywhere as an ad and that only Twitter is talking about goes to show you that Senator Marshall is on track for a great night on November 3rd,” Marshall campaign spokesperson Alex Degrasse told The Times in a statement.
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Events Leading Up To Haley Stevens's Shock Endorsement Highlight Its Abruptness: WaPo
A new Washington Post report details how seemingly abrupt Rep. Haley Stevens’s (D-Mich.) about-face in the Michigan Senate race was.
According to the publication, Stevens reportedly told a longtime friend the night before she announced that she would attend a church service with Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed the following day. Instead, she wound up attending a service with Rogers.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) also told the publication that he spoke with Stevens on Saturday evening, and she said she’d be cheering on the results with Democrats on election night.
“I’m dumbfounded by this turn of events,” Raskin told the publication. “Something doesn’t compute about this whole sequence of events.”
Stevens did not respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
Michigan Democratic Party Gives Haley Stevens The Boot After Rogers Endorsement
The Michigan Democratic Party appears to have kicked out Rep. Haley Stevens after the congresswoman stunned on Sunday by endorsing Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers over fellow Democrat Abdul El-Sayed.
Stevens “is not a current member of the Michigan Democratic Party, nor will she be in the future,” party chair Curtis Hertel posted on X, after releasing a scathing statement denouncing Stevens’ shock decision to endorse Rogers.
Sources tell The Detroit News that Stevens no longer has access to Michigan Democrats’ voter database, and that her photo has been removed from the party’s website. Staff for Stevens’ office also resigned in response to her endorsement.
“It’s an abomination,” Hertel told reporters of the congresswoman’s decision. “Either Haley Stevens is not who she said she would be, or there’s something very wrong with her right now.”
Democrats, both regional and national, swiftly condemned Stevens, including Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin. Several House Democrats also said they support removing her from the Democratic caucus because of the Trump-aligned endorsement, according to Politico.
Trump Says He’d ‘Love’ For Haley Stevens To Join The Republican Party
President Donald Trump on Sunday effusively praised Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) after she made a shock endorsement of Republican Mike Rogers for the Michigan Senate seat.
“I don’t know Haley, I’ve never met Haley, but Haley said what few people are willing to say,” Trump said during a rally in Dubuque, Iowa. “...I’d love her to join the Republican Party, actually. I think that could happen maybe.”
He then went on to repeat Islamophobic attacks on Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed that he and other Republicans have leaned into in their final days of campaigning for the midterms.
Stevens previously said she was “still a very proud Democrat” in a video endorsing the Trump-backed Republican.
Sen. Chris Murphy Suffers Stroke In Midst Of Democratic Campaign
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) is recovering from a stroke on Saturday.
Allison Herwitt, Murphy’s chief of staff, said that the senator “started experiencing numbness in his arm while at his son’s hockey game” and was subsequently taken to a local hospital, where doctors diagnosed him with a stroke.
“He was transferred to Johns Hopkins for further monitoring and is responding well to treatment,” Hewitt’s statement continued. “The doctors are encouraged by his progress, he is awake and alert, and we are optimistic he will make a full recovery.”
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