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Friends and a former aide of Michigan Representative Haley Stevens are questioning the role of her fiancé, disability rights lawyer Jason Turkish, in her decision to endorse Republican Mike Rogers two days before the midterm Election.
Stevens, a Democrat, lost her party's August Senate primary to Abdul El-Sayed by about 1 percentage point. She endorsed the nominee and pledged to help him defeat Rogers. On Sunday, she appeared with the Republican and said she was backing him instead.
The decision surprised Democrats, some of whom she had told she would not make the switch.
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Former Michigan Governor Jim Blanchard, a Democrat and friend of Stevens, told Gongwer News Service that Turkish criticized her during a dinner on Friday for endorsing El-Sayed.
"He was working her over," Blanchard said.
Stevens has insisted the decision was hers. Turkish said on X that he could not be prouder of her courage.
Newsweek reached out to Stevens for comment on Monday.
Who Is Jason Turkish?
Turkish, 39, lives in Huntington Woods, Michigan, and is president and managing partner of Nyman Turkish, a litigation and disability rights law firm with offices in California, Florida and Michigan and about 150 employees. The firm was founded in 1980 as the Law Offices of William Turkish.
Legally blind since birth, he earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Michigan and a law degree from Northwestern University.
One of his best-known cases involved Angelo Binno, a blind man who could not complete the Law School Admission Test's (LSAT) logic games section because it relied heavily on diagrams. A 2019 settlement with the Law School Admission Council led to the section being dropped for all test-takers beginning in August 2024.
The Michigan Supreme Court appointed Turkish to the state's Attorney Discipline Board in 2022. He previously chaired the Michigan Barrier Free Design Board and in 2024 co-founded the Alliance for America's Promise, a disability benefits advocacy group.
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Turkish is Jewish. His father was born in Haifa, Israel, and his grandparents were Holocaust refugees.
He has donated to both parties. Published reports put his contributions to Democrats at more than $300,000. HuffPost, citing federal records, reported that he gave $15,000 to a committee supporting Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin in 2024, along with donations to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The Nation reported that he has given more than $24,000 to Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins.
Stevens and Turkish met after the 2022 election cycle through David Kramer, a mutual friend who later chaired her Senate campaign, The Detroit News reported. Their friendship became romantic earlier in 2026, during the campaign, and they decided to marry in May.
They announced their engagement on August 26, three weeks after the primary. Stevens announced her divorce from Rob Gulley in October 2022. She told The New York Times she was considering converting to Judaism ahead of the wedding.
How Did Haley Stevens Turn Against El-Sayed?
Stevens accepted the primary result despite a bitter campaign, endorsing El-Sayed and pledging to help him defeat Rogers.
The two appeared together at a unity breakfast two days after the primary and not again. Stevens kept voicing reservations about El-Sayed, particularly over his criticism of Israel, but said publicly that she wanted him to win.
The primary exposed deep divisions among Michigan Democrats. Stevens is a strong supporter of Israel. El-Sayed has sharply criticized its war in Gaza, describing Israel's actions as "genocide" and calling for an end to U.S. military aid.
Tens of millions of dollars in outside money went into the race, including from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's affiliated super PAC, which backed Stevens.
Last week, Turkish told The Detroit News he planned to vote for Rogers. Stevens then went on CNN to reaffirm her support for El-Sayed, while urging his campaign to "shut out the hate and call it out."
Turkish has said El-Sayed's rhetoric puts Jewish people at risk, and he told The New York Times he would be "less safe on this planet" with El-Sayed in the Senate. El-Sayed has rejected accusations that his criticism of Israel is antisemitic.
The dispute escalated Friday, when Stevens demanded that El-Sayed condemn an advertisement from Rebellion PAC, an outside group, linking U.S. support for Israel to high grocery prices.
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"He can begin by getting Israel out of his explanation for everything Michigan cannot afford," she wrote.
El-Sayed's campaign had already disavowed the ad, which the Anti-Defamation League described as a case study in antisemitism. He said he disagreed with its contents and accused Stevens of reopening a primary that ended three months earlier.
Stevens was supposed to join El-Sayed, South Carolina Representative Jim Clyburn and other Democrats at a Detroit church on Sunday in a show of unity. Dingell, who helped organize the event, eventually withdrew her invitation, saying the fight had become too distracting.
People close to Stevens still expected her to attend. Blanchard told The Washington Post that she discussed issuing a statement reaffirming her support for El-Sayed at the Friday dinner and later texted him to confirm she would be at the service.
Maryland Representative Jamie Raskin told the newspaper that he spoke with Stevens for about 25 minutes on Saturday night, and that she assured him she would celebrate with Democrats on election night.
"I'm dumbfounded by this turn of events," Raskin said. "Something doesn't compute about this whole sequence of events."
On Sunday morning, Stevens appeared at Perfecting Church in Detroit with Rogers. El-Sayed attended a different church with Clyburn and other Democrats.
She announced her endorsement in a video.
"Our Democratic nominee for Senate said I was no longer welcome in his campaign and that I should stay away," she said. "And he's right."
Why Are Stevens's Friends Concerned?
Blanchard told Gongwer that he, Stevens, Turkish, her mother and others had dinner Friday at Beau's Grillery in Bloomfield Township.
Turkish criticized Stevens there for endorsing El-Sayed right after the primary, Blanchard said, arguing that people who had supported her were disappointed.
Blanchard said he defended her as a team player and later told her Turkish was "not a good influence." She replied that she was fine, he said.
"Something snapped in her. And it snapped in 24 hours," Blanchard said. "And I don't know what."
A friend of Stevens told The Washington Post that Turkish had been "really working her over" to endorse Rogers.
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Jordan Acker, a University of Michigan regent who said he has known Turkish for years and respects him as a lawyer, raised concerns about his behavior in a statement on X on Sunday.
"But I have become deeply troubled by his behavior," Acker wrote. "I've heard serious concerns about his treatment of Haley's staff, friends, and allies. My own experiences have only deepened those concerns."
He did not provide details. Stevens, he said, deserves "dignity, independence, and the freedom to make her own decisions."
In a separate post, Acker claimed Turkish had taken Stevens's phone away. Turkish disputed that from his protected account, according to a screenshot.
"Jordan—Haley turned off her phone because of the amount of incoming calls," he wrote. "You are welcome to come over whenever you want. No need to make things up."
He also said Stevens received a standing ovation "before thousands" that night, without saying where. Politico reported that Stevens spoke to the outlet Sunday afternoon using Turkish's phone because hers had died.
Caitlin Legacki, a former rep for Stevens's campaign, accused Turkish in a post on X on Saturday of being "verbally abusive to staff" during the primary. She did not provide further details.
Former Pennsylvania Representative Susan Wild said that if Stevens had abandoned her allies because of a new relationship, she was "no friend at all." Michigan state Senator Mallory McMorrow, who also ran in the primary, suggested Turkish may have influenced the endorsement.
What Has Stevens Said?
Stevens has repeatedly said that endorsing Rogers was her own decision.
Speaking to reporters at Perfecting Church on Sunday, she called it her "personal and private decision." She later told Politico that her conversation with Rogers had been brief and that he made her no promises.
On CNN on Sunday night, Anderson Cooper repeatedly asked what had changed between her endorsement of El-Sayed and her decision to back a Republican she had long attacked.
Stevens said El-Sayed had been "getting angrier and angrier" and pointed to his ties to streamer Hasan Piker.
"I woke up this morning, clear-eyed, fresh and focused on what was in my heart," she said.
She said she spent the night alone with her thoughts. Asked whether she might change her mind, she replied: "I'm rock solid, I'm an independent woman."
Stevens also said she wanted Democrats to win the Senate and described her congressional office as in transition after the staff resignations.
She told Politico Playbook last week that she had not been invited to an event in Pontiac, in her district, with New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
"Nobody wants the Democratic Party to feel like an exclusive club," she said.
How Have Democrats Reacted?
Democratic leaders and colleagues turned on Stevens within hours.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who supported her in the primary, called the decision "a despicable betrayal." Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi described it as "horrific," and Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin said it betrayed the party's values.
Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Curtis Hertel said Stevens was "not a current member of the Michigan Democratic Party" and would not be one in the future. The party took her photograph off its website.
Justin German, her chief of staff for eight years, said he and many other staff members had resigned and were "shocked and heartbroken." Cooper said about half of her staff had left.
Michigan Senator Gary Peters said he and his wife were "extremely disappointed." Slotkin said anyone making the election about themselves should consider whether they are serving the greater good.
Susan Wild predicted Stevens would become "a pariah" among her colleagues. An unnamed House Democrat told Axios it was too bad she had given up her career so easily.
Rabbi Aaron Starr of Congregation Shaarey Zedek expressed respect for her position, and Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman defended her in remarks to Jewish Insider. Rogers called Stevens a courageous leader. President Donald Trump invited her to join the Republican Party.
Stevens, 43, was chief of staff to President Barack Obama's auto task force before winning a Republican-held House seat in 2018. She defeated Representative Andy Levin in a 2022 primary and entered the Senate race with the backing of Peters and Whitmer.
What Do the Polls Say?
Most public polls were conducted before Stevens endorsed Rogers.
The final New York Times/Siena University poll showed El-Sayed leading Rogers 53 percent to 42 percent among 1,011 likely voters. It was conducted October 23 to November 1, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
A CNN/SSRS poll conducted October 20 to 27 put El-Sayed ahead 49 percent to 42 percent. A WDIV/Detroit News poll released last week showed him leading 51.4 percent to 45.1 percent, while an InsiderAdvantage poll had him up 47 percent to 46 percent.
The RealClearPolling average showed El-Sayed leading by 5.3 points. On Monday, the prediction market Kalshi gave him a 78 percent chance of winning.
His campaign said it raised $2.4 million on Sunday, its best fundraising day.
What Happens Next?
Michigan voters head to the polls Tuesday. More than 1.8 million people had already voted by Friday.
Stevens leaves Congress in January. Eight House Democrats privately told Politico they wanted her removed from the caucus or otherwise punished, and Representatives Lateefah Simon, Marc Veasey and Emily Randall told Axios they would support removing her.
House caucus rules bar members from campaigning for a non-Democratic candidate in a partisan federal election. Expulsion requires a two-thirds vote, though a senior House Democrat told Axios the discussion should wait until after the election.
Stevens has said she remains a Democrat. She has not announced what she plans to do after leaving Congress.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jason Lemon and Paul Donnelley.
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