When it comes to politicians who talk about respecting women, I have a pretty low bar: Let a woman explain her own vote before deciding her boyfriend is controlling her.
Apparently, this is too big an ask for many of those criticizing and going after Democrat Rep. Haley Stevens (MI-11). She endorsed Republican Mike Rogers for Senate. There is a lot of ammunition out there to use against that decision. Somehow, we made it about her fiancé.
I dislike her views on economics and, particularly, abortion. Those disagreements have survived her endorsement just fine. Defending her against the abhorrent treatment from leftists in her own party and her fellow Michiganders does not require me to budge on those policy positions.
Former Michigan Gov. Jim Blanchard said, “Something snapped in her.” Even Evel Knievel couldn’t make that leap from “I disagree with her endorsement.” She chose Rogers over Abdul El-Sayed. The former governor could have left it there and gone on and on about why he thought it was a bad choice. Instead, we got “snapped.” What exactly does he think snapped?
Democrat Rep. Jared Huffman (CA-02) also had to weigh in. He called the endorsement “unhinged.” I’d rather hear a reasonable, sensible argument against it. That might have actually told us something new and critical about the race.
The lefty rag The New Republic also decided to pile on. Its headline ran as “Has Anyone in History Ever Crashed Out Like Haley Stevens Just Did?” Its own story featured Aaron Rupar describing her CNN interview as a “seeming mental breakdown.”
Bad interviews happen on the campaign trail and during campaign season all the time. A bad interview is a bad interview. They’re a dime a dozen, and half of them keep lazy D.C. commentators like Rupar employed indefinitely. But the words “mental breakdown” are doing most of the work here when the politician in question has just done something her party hates.
What really gets me is how the response flips completely when a Republican crosses over.
Kamala Harris welcomed Liz and Dick Cheney’s endorsements in September 2024, calling their public support “courageous” and praising putting “country above party.” Their substantial policy disagreements did not stop her from accepting their support or praising their decision to give it.
Republican strategist David Urban highlighted this on a CNN panel, naming former Republican House members Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger.
Republican strategist David Urban just forced the Democrats on the CNN panel — including David Axelrod — to confront their own double standard on the Haley Stevens saga. If a Republican had defected and endorsed a Democrat, like Liz Cheney or Adam Kinzinger, they would have been LIONIZED by the media. But because a Democrat is crossing the aisle to support a Republican, she’s suddenly become a kook and a pariah. URBAN: “When Republicans break with our party, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger and others, you guys lionize them as being ‘courageous’ and so ‘brave.’” “And now you guys are like, she’s lost her mind! She’s clearly wacky. But when it’s our team, you guys are like, look how brave, what a profile in courage.” Urban is bang on here.
— Overton (@overton_news) November 2, 2026
“When Republicans break with our party, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger and others, you guys lionize them as being ‘courageous’ and so ‘brave.’
“And now you guys are like, she’s lost her mind! She’s clearly wacky. But when it’s our team, you guys are like, look how brave, what a profile in courage.”
This comparison gets more difficult to dismiss when you see what former Rep. Susan Wild wrote about her supposed friend and former roommate. Wild publicly pondered whether Stevens’s relationship with Jason Turkish, her fiancé, explained the endorsement. She invoked an old sexist trope, saying a woman who abandons friends when “a new guy comes along” is “no friend at all.”
With friends like that, who needs enemies?
Wild could have gone several directions. She could have gone on about Rogers’s record, the election, and the consequences for the Senate. Instead, she gave everyone a reason to gossip about the relationship. I cannot imagine being on the receiving end of that from a supposed friend and believing it was done out of kindness.
Not to be outdone, University of Michigan Regent Jordan Acker also raised concerns about Turkish. His post describes conversations with Stevens before her announcement and expresses worry about the influence of those closest to her.
As Haley's friend, I can't be silent. Yesterday morning, afternoon, and evening, I spoke with @HaleyforMI several times. At 8:58 this morning, she told me she intended to remain silent. I don't know what changed in the two hours that followed. I want to believe she was being truthful with me. I've known her fiancé, Jason Turkish, for years. I respect him as a brilliant lawyer and advocate for disabled Americans. But I have become deeply troubled by his behavior. I've heard serious concerns about his treatment of Haley's staff, friends, and allies. My own experiences have only deepened those concerns. It is painful to watch someone you care about go through something like this. It is even more painful to worry about the influence of those closest to her. I don't know what happened this morning, and I won't pretend that I do. Haley is my friend. I am deeply concerned for her well-being. She deserves dignity, independence, and the freedom to make her own decisions. But at the end of the day, this is bigger than any one person or political controversy. We cannot lose sight of the people affected by these decisions and this conduct: her constituents, her staff, her friends, and the people who have placed their trust in her. They deserve respect, accountability, and answers, too.
— Jordan Acker (@JordanAckerMI) November 2, 2026
There are staff allegations about Turkish’s behavior, and reporting them requires fairness and his response. They do not establish who made the endorsement decision. That distinction keeps disappearing under all this public concern for a woman who says she made her choice.
Stevens answered that suggestion in her own statement:
"Think about what that says. A woman can serve in Congress, run statewide, and fight for her convictions, and still be told that when she makes a choice people dislike, someone else must be pulling the strings.
That is sexism dressed up as political analysis. My fiancé has his own views. I have mine. I made this decision, and I am proud of it. Do not question my independence simply because you disagree with my conclusion."
https://t.co/7tDAMPJoIy
— Haley Stevens (@HaleyforMI) November 3, 2026
Stevens has been very clear about her objections to El-Sayed’s supporters, notably radical leftist streamer Hasan Piker, the idiotic outside ad tying grocery prices to support for Israel, and, most recently, being unwelcome at campaign events. She included El-Sayed’s eventual rejection of the ad. These are the specifics that we should address. They are her stated reasons for the endorsement. Democrats and El-Sayed supporters may find her explanation unconvincing. But that still leaves a considerable distance between disagreement and outright personal attacks on her and her loved ones.
Her fateful appearance Sunday morning alongside Rogers at Perfecting Church in Detroit, covered by RedState, was always going to irritate and anger Democrats both in Michigan and around the country. Her previous attacks on Rogers and the late timing of her reversal deserve scrutiny to the fullest extent. No one owes her an easy interview.
But what a rotten way to treat someone you call a friend. Wild had every right to be furious about Rogers. Blanchard could have spent the whole interview arguing against the endorsement. Instead, the public got the boyfriend speculation and “Something snapped in her.” Remember those words when the next Republican endorses a Democrat and the applause starts. I will.
