By Nathan Layne and Laura Matthews
NEW YORK, Oct 31 (Reuters) – US Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed wants to keep his distance from US Representative Haley Stevens, who he defeated in the Michigan Democratic primary in early August, amid criticism over a political ad.
Stevens may not attend an event in Detroit with El-Sayed on Sunday after his campaign asked her to stay away from future appearances, the latest escalation in a public dispute over an advertisement she has condemned as antisemitic.
El-Sayed requested that Stevens forgo his campaign events through the November 3 election so “as not to distract from the central issues of the campaign,” according to a person familiar with the matter.
Stevens’ office did not immediately return a request for comment.
The request, first reported by Politico on Friday, was made more than two months after El-Sayed defeated Stevens in a bitterly contested Democratic primary and threatens to prolong party divisions days before the midterm elections. Democrats are hoping to defeat Republican candidate Mike Rogers to capture the seat currently held by Democratic Senator Gary Peters, who is not running for reelection.
Republicans have narrow majorities in both chambers of Congress. The closely contested race between El-Sayed and Rogers, one of the highest-profile races in next week’s elections, could play a central role in determining control of the Senate.
Jason Turkish, the fiance of Stevens, on Saturday told Fox News’ “Fox & Friends Weekend” that he is uncertain whether the Michigan congresswoman would still attend a Detroit church service on Sunday with El-Sayed and US Representative Jim Clyburn of South Carolina.
The event, scheduled for 1 p.m. EST, had been expected to showcase party unity. Stevens issued a statement on Friday affirming her support for El-Sayed while demanding that he condemn an outside group’s advertisement blaming Israel for high grocery prices and apologize for his past rhetoric about Israel.
“Haley has made it clear to anyone who will listen that she remains on Team Dem. Her only ask, a very small ask, was to say that we not blame all of society’s high costs on one group of people,” Turkish told Fox News.
BITTER DEMOCRATIC FEUD
The dispute between El-Sayed and Stevens centers on an advertisement from a PAC led by left-wing commentator Cenk Uygur, linking high grocery prices to US support for Israel. El-Sayed briefly campaigned with Uygur’s nephew, Hasan Piker, a left-wing streamer criticized over comments about Israel and US Jews.
Turkish, who is Jewish and a self-described lifelong Democrat, said he decided to support Rogers after El-Sayed would not say in a debate whether Iran or Israel was a greater threat to the US.
El-Sayed has accused Stevens of appearing “intent on relitigating” their bitter primary contest and diverting attention from his campaign’s focus on defeating Rogers and opposing President Donald Trump’s agenda.
While the latest dispute could complicate El-Sayed’s efforts to unite Michigan Democrats behind his candidacy, recent polling suggests he has largely consolidated that support. A recent Mitchell Research & Communications poll conducted for Michigan television stations found that 94% of Democrats back El-Sayed, compared with 91% of Republicans supporting Rogers.
Matt Grossmann, a political science professor at Michigan State University, said he did not think the latest flareup of the Stevens-El-Sayed feud would move that many voters.
“It’s certainly unhelpful to the El-Sayed campaign to have continued visible division within the party just before Election Day,” Grossmann said. “But the latest moves don’t reveal anything new about the conflict.”
Polling numbers already have “mostly priced in” any reluctance by Stevens’ supporters to back El-Sayed, Grossmann said.
(Reporting by Laura Matthews in New York and Nathan Layne; Editing by Sergio Non and Paul Simao)
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