Democratic US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has asked fellow party member and Congresswoman Haley Stevens to keep her distance from his campaign activities, as tensions between the two continue to deepen ahead of Michigan’s closely contested Senate election.
El-Sayed made his position clear after a campaign rally, telling reporters that he wanted to avoid distractions as he focused on the election.
“I don’t want any distractions,” El-Sayed told reporters after a campaign rally, according to The New York Times. “It seems as though other folks are more interested in making this race about things that it’s not about.”
The disagreement disrupted plans for the two Democrats to appear together at a church service in Detroit on Sunday. Representative Debbie Dingell later told CNN that she had spoken with Stevens and advised her that the planned joint appearance was no longer working.
Dingell said the disagreement between the former primary rivals had become a distraction, adding that “there’s nothing to be gained by the two of them being in the same place.”
The public disagreement has exposed divisions within the Democratic Party in Michigan, where El-Sayed, a progressive candidate, defeated the more moderate Stevens in a bitter primary contest.
Stevens endorsed El-Sayed shortly after his victory in August and had planned to join him on the campaign trail. However, she had largely avoided appearing publicly alongside him, while continuing to criticise him.
The tension also involves Stevens’ fiancé, Jason Turkish, who has campaigned for Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers.
The latest disagreement emerged two days before the planned joint appearance, when Stevens demanded that El-Sayed publicly condemn an advertisement by an outside political group. The advert blamed rising prices on US support for Israel’s war in Gaza.
Responding to her criticism, El-Sayed accused Stevens of attempting to reopen a primary contest that had ended months earlier. He also pointed to the significant spending by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) during the primary campaign against him.
“Congresswoman Stevens seems intent on relitigating a primary that ended three months ago,” El-Sayed said in a statement.
He urged Democrats to concentrate on defeating Rogers and addressing issues affecting voters rather than continuing their internal disagreements.
“Let’s all focus on the task at hand: that’s beating Mike Rogers, holding Trump accountable, and getting money out of politics, putting money in pockets, and passing Medicare for All,” the statement said.
The dispute has raised concerns among Democrats who regard the Michigan contest as important to their efforts to regain control of the US Senate.
Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow criticised the disagreement during an interview with CNN on Friday, saying the party should be concentrating on issues affecting residents.
“I have no idea what the hell Haley Stevens is doing,” McMorrow said.
She added that voters were more concerned about the cost of everyday necessities than the dispute between the two politicians.
“This is a moment where we have to recognize the stakes. People are not talking about ads. They are not talking about Haley Stevens. They are talking about the price of gas and groceries.”
