Haley Stevens

There's much in the news about Michigan representative Haley Stevens' decision to vote for a Republican instead of Abdul El-Sayed in the upcoming election. Many Democrats are really angry at her and find her sudden switch imcomprehensible.

I don't know why she changed her mind, but I can think of one reason why she might have.

As a congressperson, Stevens represents a large Jewish constituency with whom she has maintained a close relationship.

A lot of Jewish people in Michigan are worried about the rising tide of sentiment against them. It was not long ago that there was an attack on a synagogue there (Attack on Michigan synagogue was Hezbollah-inspired 'act of terrorism,' FBI says).

Some of the campaign rhetoric by or for El-Sayed has been anti-Israel - he has often implied that giving foreign aid to Israel (but not other countries?) is taking money away from people in Michigan. And then there's the video ad for El-Sayed by The Young Turks (Hasan Piker) in which Israel is blamed for high grocery prices in the US (The Wall Street Journal: Blaming the Jews for Everything in Michigan).

And Haley Stevens' fiance is Jewish also, which probably added to her decision.

I can see people being mad because she changed her mind at the last minute. She's ruined her political career and El-Sayed is doing even better in the polls, but she made the choice she wanted to make. That's her right.

Finally, an example I came across today of how Israel has become an issue in this Michigan election. A reporter from CNN asked both El-Sayed and Stevens whether they believed Israel had a right to exist. El-Sayed would not answer the question directly, but (1) implied Michigan's tax dollars were going to Israel instead of Michigan, though aid to Israel is under 1% of the total federal budget, (2) said Israel is committing genocide and apartheid, which is only true if you make up new definitions for those words, and (3) described a future Israel he would accept ... a one state solution ... that would end Israel as a Jewish state.