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, (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.