Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) endorsed Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) on Friday in the state’s contentious Democrat Senate primary, lending the party’s biggest name to the moderate congresswoman one day before early in-person voting opens in her fight against far-left rival Abdul El-Sayed.
Whitmer announced the endorsement in a video and a written statement. It gives Stevens the backing of Michigan’s most popular politician in the race to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI). Whitmer praised the four-term congresswoman’s record, including her work as chief of staff on former President Barack Obama’s auto rescue effort, WDIV reported.
Whitmer said Stevens shares her focus on results.
“During my eight years as governor, we’ve faced tough challenges. But my north star has always been to get stuff done for Michigan,” Whitmer said. “I know that’s Haley Stevens’ guiding light too.” The governor also noted Stevens was “named the most effective Michigan Democrat in Congress.”
Stevens celebrated the endorsement in a post on X.
El-Sayed’s campaign spokeswoman, Roxie Richner, claimed the endorsement showed the establishment lining up against the progressive. “The corporate establishment has closed ranks and made their pick. Now, Michigan voters will get to make theirs,” Richner said.
The Michigan Republican Party said the endorsement changed little. Senior communications adviser Greg Manz said both Democrats would advance the same agenda.
“Establishment Democrats are beyond panicked, and Gretchen Whitmer’s endorsement of Haley Stevens proves it,” Manz said. “She is every bit as extreme as Abdul El-Sayed.”
A Detroit News and WDIV poll put Stevens ahead of the former Wayne County health director, with an even bigger edge among black voters. Whitmer and El-Sayed have faced off before. She beat him in the 2018 Democrat primary for governor.
The governor is term-limited now, and some Democrats have floated her as a 2028 presidential contender. Stevens has also drawn tens of millions in outside spending, nearly $30 million of it from a pro-Israel group.
El-Sayed has pulled in a wall of support from the party’s left. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) have all lined up behind him.
The party’s establishment, meanwhile, is trying to shut him out. Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) said this week that a photo from El-Sayed’s Detroit rally told him “all I need to know” about the candidate’s standing with black voters. Ocasio-Cortez has claimed the progressive “represents the politics of the future.”
The winner of the Aug. 4 primary will face Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers in November. Early in-person voting begins Saturday.
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