Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed’s former opponent in the U.S. Senate primary, Haley Stevens, stunned party officials Sunday by endorsing Republican Mike Rogers after Democratic tensions boiled over days before the election that could determine the balance of power on Capitol Hill.
Stevens endorsed Rogers after attending a Detroit church service with him. The remarkable show of support for Donald Trump’s backed candidate in the tightly contested race comes after she was uninvited to a joint event the same day with El-Sayed, who defeated the congresswoman by a slim margin in the August primary.
“Our Democratic nominee for Senate said I was no longer welcome in his campaign and that I should stay away,” Stevens said video announcing the endorsement. “And he’s right. And that’s why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States Senate today.”
In case you weren’t aware, WFP candidates will run under the Dem ticket sometimes as a strategic decision.
With the requirements some states have, its the sensible option. Its also one of the way to substantially alter the party OR increase the standing of WFP.
Just because there is a “D” there, we shouldn’t assume establishment. This is why knowing who is running and getting in at the primaries is so important.
That’s actually one of the reasons I really remembered the Working Families Party after I learned about it: they understand the only way you can wield political power to change things (hopefully for the better) is to first acquire political power. With the way our current system works in most cases, it better to do that by getting a candidate to win one of the major party primaries rather than challenging both major parties in the general. But, that can change as power shifts or depending on the introduction of voting systems better than FPtP.