Lifelong Michigan Democrat And Ties To Representative Stevens Cross Party Lines To Back Republican Rogers

A lifelong Democrat and major party donor who is engaged to U.S. Representative Haley Stevens of Michigan has announced he is crossing party lines to support Republican candidate Mike Rogers in the state’s fiercely contested Senate race. Jason Turkish pointed to concerns regarding Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed’s rhetoric concerning Israel and the Jewish community as his primary motivation for the shift.

Turkish stated on Wednesday that he intends to cast his ballot for Rogers, moving away from El-Sayed, who engaged in a bitter primary battle against Stevens that exposed sharp ideological fractures within the party. Turkish, who is Jewish and proposed to Stevens in August, criticized what he described as reckless hostility toward the safety of local Jewish residents. He pointed to an escalation in El-Sayed’s language following the primary contest, arguing that the rhetoric compromises community safety.

“We have never seen a candidate for U.S. Senate act so recklessly toward the safety of Jews in the community as we have seen from Abdul,” Turkish said, adding that public discussions regarding genocide have correlated with an increase in direct threats against Jewish individuals.

To signal his opposition, Turkish attended a Rogers campaign event Wednesday evening organized by the Republican Jewish Coalition. The gathering, titled “Who Will Keep Us Safe? Rogers vs. El-Sayed,” featured both the Republican nominee and Texas Senator Ted Cruz.

Asked about the defection, El-Sayed downplayed the announcement while speaking to reporters. He suggested that voters weigh individual disagreements against broader policy platforms, stating that such decisions belong entirely to the electorate.

Turkish is the second high-profile Democrat with close ties to Representative Stevens to publicly break with the party’s Senate nominee. In a report published Tuesday, Stevens’ former campaign manager, David Kramer, also disclosed plans to back Rogers. While acknowledging policy disagreements with the Republican candidate, Kramer stated he could not support El-Sayed, expressing skepticism regarding the nominee’s commitment to protecting Jewish safety and maintaining proper distinctions between international allies and adversaries like Iran.