Why Haley Stevens backing Mike Rogers is a painful lesson for El-Sayed: Hurt people, hurt people

WASHINGTON — Outgoing Rep.Haley Stevens roiled the critical Michigan Senate race with her shocking endorsement of Republican Mike Rogers, in a move that caught almost everyone by surprise.The jaw-dropping last-minute endorsement by Stevens (D-Mich.), who came within a point of winning the Dem nod, took place with about half the votes still left to be cast in Michigan.

Some GOP insiders believe her decision, which came after months of her struggling over Abdul El-Sayed’s lefty agenda, could help Rogers eke out a win in a blue wave year, because it could persuade moderates to follow suit.“I do not feel that Dr.El-Sayed is fit to be a US senator,” she explained on “The Scott Jennings Show” Monday.Stevens recounted how she “tried to do everything right” and backed El-Sayed despite her many misgivings, but kept seeing more and more red flags pop up.“Then the ads came out, ads blaming Jews for everything, and the Tucker [Carlson] ad,” she added, hinting that El-Sayed’s failure to push for those spots to get taken down was a red line for her.

The congresswoman described to the Free Press how she had an epiphany late Saturday, when she asked herself, “Wait a moment, what am I doing?” and reflected that she wasn’t “being honest with myself” about her uneasy support for El-Sayed.“I’m at peace with this,” she later added about her backing of Rogers.“I’m not wrestling with this.”The call to Rogers came early Sunday morning and wasn’t expected, though his campaign tried to signal it was “pretty open” to welcoming her as “Abdul pushed her out,” a source close to the campaign explained.

“We were all stunned,” a separate GOP aide involved in Michigan politics told The Post.Democrats erupted in fury and outrage at the remarkable defection.

Several lawmakers had reached out to Stevens right before she jumped ship, hearing rumors that she might withdraw her endorsement from El-Sayed.Late last week, Stevens publicly ripped ...