LANSING, Mich. — If the U.S. Senate race in Michigan could be described in baseball terms, Rep. Haley Stevens' endorsement of Republican Mike Rogers could be considered out of left field and in the bottom of the ninth.
For those less acquainted with America's favorite pastime, this means it was both unexpected and belated.
"The biggest, last-minute soap opera of the campaign," said John Sellek, chief strategist and CEO for Harbor Strategic, a Lansing-based public relations agency.
"Historically unprecedented for Michigan politics," Sellek said. "We've never before seen anything like this, but we're starting to get used to that in politics, right?"
At a Detroit church this past Sunday, Stevens dropped her support fellow Democrat Abdul El-Sayed — whom she lost to in the Senate primary in a narrow vote — and flipped to the Trump-endorsed Rogers, a candidate whom she previously described as "wrong for Michigan."
"My vote for Senate is going to be with Mike Rogers," Stevens said. "We have to stand with country. We can't stand with hate."
Stevens cited disagreements over foreign policy — specifically as it related to positions on Israel and Iran — and a distaste for the rhetoric of El-Sayed and those associated with his campaign as reasons for her decision.
"This is more a statement about standing together against hate and the future of this state and this country than it is anything else,” Rogers said about the endorsement. "And I just want you to know: She reminded me at the end of the call, 'Remember, I’m still a Democrat.'"
That same morning, El-Sayed downplayed the move.
"None of this matters," he said. "You know what matters? There's a family you can go like 15 minutes that way or 15 minutes that way or 15 minutes that way, and there are families who are preparing to send their kids to schools tomorrow that look like they did 50 years ago."
While the endorsement drew headlines — including this one — Sellek says its impact on voters may be diminished due to it occurring so close to Election Day.
"What kind of effect will it have? It's like a Christmas gift for Mike Rogers, but one that showed up in the mail on New Year's Eve," Sellek said.
America Votes
A breakdown of the U.S. Senate debate between Mike Rogers and Abdul El-Sayed
According to the Michigan Secretary of State 629,030 people in Michigan cast their ballots by way of early voting through Oct. 31, prior to Stevens' endorsement on Nov. 1.
In addition, as of 7:04 a.m. on Nov. 2, a total of 1,569,715 absentee ballots in Michigan had been returned.
These two numbers together account for nearly a third of active, registered voters in the state.
"In the end, the late timing of [Stevens' endorsement] is probably going to severely mute its ability to have an influence on the race," Sellek said.
"That said, when you turned on your TV this morning and looked at your national newscasts or your favorite cable news, Michigan was leading the way with this story," he said. "If it’s a close race and El-Sayed loses, then this will be what people point to as a rationale."
