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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) made a surprise, last-minute endorsement for Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) over progressive Abdul El-Sayed in the open Michigan Senate race on Friday — highlighting Democratic angst over the possibility of a far-left victory in the Aug. 4 primary.
“As governor, I’ve had one strategy: Get things done. And that strategy informs everything that I do, and that’s why I’m endorsing Haley Stevens for the U.S. Senate,” Whitmer said in a more-than-one-minute ad shared through Stevens’ campaign.
“Just like me, Haley will do whatever it takes to get things done for the people of Michigan, and we need her now more than ever,” she added.
Stevens said she was “honored” to have the endorsement of the Michigan governor and potential 2028 White House candidate.
“Governor Whitmer embodies what it means to be ‘that woman from Michigan’ and everything that makes our state so special,” Stevens said in a statement. “She’s authentically Michigan — and I could not be more honored to have her endorsement for U.S. Senate. Let’s go win!”
Whitmer adds to a small handful of notable Democrats who bucked expectations and waded into the competitive Senate Democratic primary for retiring Sen. Gary Peters’s (D-Mich.), as the establishment wing of the party warns an El-Sayed win could compromise their ability to hold the seat in November.
Peters, who had previously signaled he would not be getting involved in the initial three-way race, also backed Stevens this month in addition to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) after state Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D) ended her Senate bid.
Meanwhile, progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) have endorsed the former Wayne County health director and rallied for him this month. The influential United Auto Workers have also backed El-Sayed.
Some Republicans have signaled they would also like El-Sayed to be the GOP nominee. CNN reported about a private call Michigan Senate GOP nominee Mike Rogers had with supporters last month, in which he signaled he would be in “good shape” if the progressive won his August primary.
“Mike Rogers won’t be in ‘good shape’ in November, but the people of Michigan will be,” El-Sayed campaign spokeswoman, Roxie Richner, told CNN in a statement in response to the audio.
Michigan Republicans ridiculed Whitmer’s endorsement in a statement, saying the GOP would be strongly positioned regardless of whom won the Democratic Senate nod.
“Establishment Democrats are beyond panicked, and Gretchen Whitmer’s endorsement of Haley Stevens proves it. However, Whitmer closing ranks behind Stevens does not change the fact that she is every bit as extreme as Abdul El-Sayed,” Michigan Republican Party Senior Communications Advisor Greg Manz said in a statement.
Progressives have fared well in a handful of more reliably blue House seats this primary cycle, with several democratic socialists defeating sitting House Democratic incumbents.
El-Sayed’s candidacy is testing whether progressives can carry that same momentum into a high-profile Senate race in a battleground state like Michigan, particularly since Graham Platner’s Maine Senate bid imploded this month.
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