El-Sayed Faces New Rift as Turkish Endorses Rogers

Jason Turkish, the fiancé of former U.S. Representative Haley Stevens, told The Detroit News on Wednesday that he will cast his ballot for Republican Mike Rogers in the Michigan Senate race. The announcement, released less than a week before Election Day, reignited a public split within the Democratic Party that has persisted since a contentious primary.

Hours after Turkish’s remarks, Stevens appeared on CNN to state that she would vote for Democrat Abdul El-Sayed. She urged El-Sayed’s campaign to address internal friction directly. “Make people who are in my coalition, right, make them feel comfortable about coming to the polls,” Stevens said. Her comments followed months of private and public criticism regarding El-Sayed’s strategy to court new voters, including college students and rural residents, rather than consolidating traditional party support.

Tensions within the Jewish community have become a central point of contention. Turkish and other members of that group have argued that El-Sayed has not done enough to address concerns about his past remarks and associations. The issue intensified following an advertisement by Rebellion PAC, an independent left-wing group, which linked U.S. support for Israel to high grocery prices. El-Sayed said the ad “has nothing to do with our campaign” and was not his preference for the campaign’s messaging at that moment.

Stevens and other Democrats pushed El-Sayed to go beyond distancing himself from the ad and to explicitly denounce its content. El-Sayed’s campaign has also faced friction over an advertisement featuring clips of conservative figures praising him, including former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Although Carlson has denied accusations of antisemitism, his inclusion in the ad added another layer of concern for some Jewish voters.

Rabbi Aaron Starr of Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield criticized both the Rebellion PAC ad and El-Sayed’s campaign ad during a call with reporters. “We are one week away from the election, and it feels like the temperature has turned way up,” Starr said. He noted that the political climate has worsened over the last seven weeks rather than improved.

Republican candidate Mike Rogers has remained closely aligned with President Donald Trump, appearing alongside him at a rally in Michigan on Sunday. During the event, Rogers credited Trump with bringing manufacturing jobs back to the state. Rogers faces challenges from voter dissatisfaction regarding the Iran war and high costs, while El-Sayed has sought to capitalize on that discontent by holding events in heavily Republican areas, including Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.