Haley Stevens faces tough questions in CNN interview on her endorsement flip

Final sprint to Election Day

• Haley Stevens talks to CNN : The Michigan Democrat struggled at times to defend flipping her endorsement from the state’s Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed to Mike Rogers, telling Anderson Cooper her backing of the Republican is “rock solid,” but refusing to explain her switch .

• Democratic hopes on midterm eve : A series of New York Times/Siena polls show Democrats leading in five of seven key battleground states that could decide Senate control. El-Sayed leads Rogers by 11 points and Texas Democrat James Talarico leads Ken Paxton by seven.

• Trump’s final event : The president closes the midterm campaign with telerallies and a speech at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool today. He campaigned yesterday in Iowa and Kansas , two red states that Democrats believe they can flip.

Trump wrapped his rally blitz Sunday. Here's what else happened on the campaign trail

President Donald Trump kicked off his final midterms rally in Kansas tonight after a day that in which attention was largely monopolized by Democrat Haley Stevens’ shock endorsement of Michigan Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers.

You can catch up on Stevens’ flip and the fallout here . Here’s what else you may have missed today:

POTUS’ last rallies: The president said he’s “closing it down tonight” after a campaign blitz for Republican candidates in over a dozen states. “I could have been home watching television or some crappy thing. I’d rather be with you,” Trump told a crowd in Salina, Kansas, where he was stumping for Sen. Roger Marshall. Earlier in Dubuque, Iowa, he told rally goers higher gas prices are “a small price to pay” for national security as the war in Iran deepens cost-of-living concerns.

Dems lead Senate polls: Democratic candidates hold leads in five of the seven critical races polled by The New York Times and Siena University. Democrats are leading in Michigan, Texas, Maine, Ohio and Kansas, with Alaska and Iowa deadlocked, according to the poll.

In court: A federal judge threw out a DOJ lawsuit that sought to potentially delay the certification of Alaska’s Senate race. The legal battle stems from an alleged Democratic scheme to confuse voters by recruiting a spoiler candidate in the race between Mary Peltola and Republican Dan Sullivan. Trump stood by the lawsuit today, saying it was “most meritful” and that the ballot controversy was “voter fraud at the highest level.” CNN also spoke to voters in Big Lake, Alaska , who expressed confidence in the electoral process despite the ballot drama.

The Department of Justice sought to delay the Senate race in Alaska over alleged "spoiler candidate" Daniel J. Sullivan, who shares a name with the incumbent, Republican Daniel S. Sullivan. CNN's Gabe Cohen reports.

Elsewhere on the trail: Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico offered their differing visions for Texas in dueling rallies. In Maine, Democratic nominee Troy Jackson teamed up with Massachusetts progressive Sen. Ed Markey in the final stages of his race against battle-tested incumbent Sen. Susan Collins .

CNN’s Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, Logan Schiciano, Jennifer Agiesta, Matt Meyer, Maureen Chowdhury, Danya Gainor and Molly English contributed reporting.

Democrats leading in 5 critical Senate races: New York Times/Siena polls

Salwan Georges/Getty Images

Democrats hold leads in five of the seven critical Senate races polled by The New York Times and Siena University as the 2026 midterm campaign comes to a close, with no clear leader in the other two races.

Democrat Abdul El-Sayed leads Republican Mike Rogers by a wide 53% to 42% among likely voters in Michigan . Democrat James Talarico tops Republican Ken Paxton by 50% to 43% among likely voters in Texas . Democrat Troy Jackson runs ahead of incumbent Republican Susan Collins by 51% to 45% among likely voters in Maine .

Democratic former Sen. Sherrod Brown tops Republican Sen. Jon Husted among likely voters in Ohio 49% to 44%. And in Kansas , Democrat Adam Hamilton leads incumbent Sen. Roger Marshall among likely voters by 49% to 44%.

The surveys find no clear leader races in Alaska , where Democrat Mary Peltola holds 48% support to Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan’s 46%, and in Iowa , where Democrat Josh Turek holds 48% to Republican Ashley Hinson’s 47%.

The polls, which largely fielded through the last few days, align with other recent public polling in several of these states, but the Michigan results suggest a far wider race than other polling. A CNN poll conducted by SSRS and released last week found El-Sayed topping Rogers by 7 points, and the CNN Poll of Polls on the race suggests a 5-point margin in El-Sayed’s favor.

Should the results of these polls match the results in Tuesday’s election, Democratic victories in the four Republican-held states where they lead outside the margin of sampling error would be enough to flip control of the Senate, if Democrats were also to hold all of their currently held seats.

Even in these late-fielding polls, though, there is still room for movement. With the exception of Michigan, each of these surveys finds the Democratic candidate holding roughly 50% support, suggesting there is room for the roughly 5% of likely voters who haven’t committed to one of the two major candidates to shift or tighten the margins.

The New York Times/Siena University polls were conducted between October 23 and November 1 among likely voters in each states. Margins of sampling error for results from the full sample stand at +/-4.8 percentage points in Alaska, +/-4.4% points in Iowa, +/-4.1% points in Kansas, +/-4.3% points in Maine, +/-3.6% points in Michigan, +/-4.2% points in Ohio and +/-3.3% points in Texas.

What happened before Stevens’ surprise endorsement of Rogers

Emily Elconin/Bloomberg/Getty Images

As recently as Saturday night, the prospect of Democrat Haley Stevens endorsing Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan’s Senate race had seemed implausible.

Stevens issued a statement praising Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed for saying he disagreed with a controversial advertisement that blamed the high cost of living in Michigan on the United States’ aid to Israel. Despite a week of speculation about her withdrawing an endorsement for El-Sayed, her primary rival, she repeatedly said that she would do no such thing.

When staffers reached out last week to urge her not to endorse Rogers, Stevens replied in a text message, according to a person who saw the message:

As recently as midnight Saturday, she told a key ally that she was sticking with El-Sayed. Then on Sunday morning, things changed.

She appeared at a Black church in Detroit with Rogers and then announced her change of heart to reporters gathered outside and on social media.

Her move stunned the political world — including Stevens’ friends, colleagues and even her own congressional staffers, most of whom found out about her decision on social media and promptly quit, according to a statement from her chief of staff and people familiar with the matter.

The question that could decide Michigan’s Senate race — and potentially, with it, which party will have majority control of the chamber for the last two years of Donald Trump’s presidency — is whether Stevens’ endorsement of Rogers will change votes or amount to more than political melodrama.

"I have been worried about her all last week": Dingell expresses concern for Stevens

Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell expressed concern for Rep. Haley Stevens after a tense interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Sunday in which he questioned Stevens on her shocking reversal to endorse the Republican Senate nominee over Democrat Abdul El-Sayed.

Dingell, who said “it has been a very difficult day,” said she thought Stevens’ reversal to back Mike Rogers is “backfiring.”

“Abdul has raised more money today, more than $1 million, talking to different people that have been at different polls,” she said, adding, “The people in the Black community are really angry about who speaks for them, that they’re not going to have other people speak for them by the end of the day.”

Dingell previously advised Stevens to stay away from El-Sayed’s events amid their deepening rift.

When asked by CNN earlier how surprised she was by Stevens’ move, Dingell said, “I was stunned since she had told me she wasn’t doing that last night at midnight.”

Stevens says her choice to back a Republican is “rock solid.” Here's what she told CNN

Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens spoke to CNN’s Anderson Cooper last night about her last-minute choice to revoke her support from Democratic Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed and back GOP candidate Mike Rogers in the consequential race.

Stevens said she was endorsing Rogers after appearing with the GOP candidate at a church in Detroit on Sunday morning, following recent tensions between her and El-Sayed, her former opponent in the Democratic primary.

Here are the top lines from her interview with Cooper:

On what changed: Stevens said “nothing with me changed” despite her choice to reverse her endorsement less than 48 hours from Election Day. “I would just say that, you know, I had some time to, you know, think,” Stevens told Cooper. “I woke up this morning clear-eyed, fresh and focused on what was in my heart, and that’s that.”

On staff exodus: The Michigan Democrat said she is under “transition” when asked about the resignation of her congressional chief of staff and others following her Rogers endorsement. “These are great individuals who, you know, I care a lot about,” she said, adding “they’re free to share their views on this.” Stevens’ former chief of staff, Justin German, said earlier her congressional team was “shocked and heartbroken” by the endorsement.

Speaking to CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) said her team is free to share their views after her endorsement of GOP Senate nominee Mike Rogers. Her chief of staff said in an earlier statement that many members of her team have resigned.

On whether she’ll change her mind: Stevens said she hasn’t yet cast her ballot — but she’s “rock solid” in her choice to back Rogers. “I’m an independent woman, I made my decision,” she said, adding “I still love my party a whole lot.”

On why she reversed course: Stevens refused to articulate what inspired her endorsement reversal . “I changed my mind. (El-Sayed) said, ‘Hey, I don’t need your endorsement.’ That’s fine. Why the anger? Why the frustration?” she said, sidestepping questions about what prompted the sudden about-face. “I hope to see more kindness in the Democratic Party and for all of us to just accept when somebody has a disagreement,” she added.

CNN’s Danya Gainor and Piper Hudspeth Blackburn contributed to this report.

距离选举日还有最后冲刺

• Haley Stevens接受CNN采访：这位密歇根州民主党人有时难以解释她为何从支持该州参议院候选人Abdul El-Sayed转而支持Mike Rogers，她告诉Anderson Cooper，她对这位共和党人的支持“非常坚定”，但拒绝解释她为何改变立场。

• 中期选举前夕，民主党人充满希望：一系列《纽约时报》/锡耶纳学院的民调显示，在可能决定参议院控制权的七个关键摇摆州中，民主党在五个州领先。埃尔-赛义德领先罗杰斯11个百分点，德克萨斯州民主党人詹姆斯·塔拉里科领先肯·帕克斯顿7个百分点。

• 特朗普的最后一场活动：总统今天将通过电话集会和在林肯纪念堂倒影池发表讲话，为中期选举竞选活动画上句号。他昨天在爱荷华州和堪萨斯州进行了竞选活动，这两个州都是共和党的传统票仓，但民主党人认为他们能够翻盘。

特朗普周日结束了他的竞选集会。以下是竞选活动中发生的其他事情。

在民主党人海莉·史蒂文斯出人意料地支持密歇根州共和党参议员候选人迈克·罗杰斯之后，唐纳德·特朗普总统今晚在堪萨斯州开始了他在中期选举的最后一场集会。

您可以点击此处了解史蒂文斯的翻转事件及其后续影响。以下是您今天可能错过的其他新闻：

总统最后几场竞选集会：在为十几个州的共和党候选人助选之后，总统表示他“今晚就结束竞选活动了”。“我本来可以待在家里看电视或者做些无聊的事情。但我宁愿和你们在一起，”特朗普在堪萨斯州萨利纳市对人群说道，当时他正在为参议员罗杰·马歇尔助选。早些时候在爱荷华州迪比克市，他告诉集会参与者，随着伊朗战争加剧了人们对生活成本的担忧，油价上涨对于国家安全而言“只是很小的代价”。

民主党在参议院民调中领先：据《纽约时报》和锡耶纳大学联合民调显示，在七场关键的参议院选举中，民主党候选人在五场选举中领先。民调显示，民主党在密歇根州、德克萨斯州、缅因州、俄亥俄州和堪萨斯州领先，而阿拉斯加州和爱荷华州的选情胶着。

法庭动态：一名联邦法官驳回了司法部一项旨在拖延阿拉斯加州参议员选举结果认证的诉讼。这场法律纠纷源于民主党涉嫌通过招募一名“搅局者”候选人来混淆选民视听，该候选人原本将在玛丽·佩尔托拉和共和党候选人丹·沙利文之间产生。特朗普今天力挺这项诉讼，称其“非常有理”，并称此次选票争议是“最高级别的选民欺诈”。美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）还采访了阿拉斯加州大湖镇的选民，尽管选票风波不断，但他们仍然对选举程序充满信心。

美国司法部试图推迟阿拉斯加州的参议院选举，原因是候选人丹尼尔·J·沙利文（Daniel J. Sullivan）被指控为“搅局者”，他与现任共和党参议员丹尼尔·S·沙利文（Daniel S. Sullivan）同名。CNN记者加布·科恩报道。

在其他竞选活动中：共和党候选人肯·帕克斯顿和民主党候选人詹姆斯·塔拉里科在针锋相对的竞选集会上阐述了他们对德克萨斯州的不同愿景。在缅因州，民主党候选人特洛伊·杰克逊在与经验丰富的现任参议员苏珊·柯林斯的竞选最后阶段，与马萨诸塞州进步派参议员埃德·马基联手。

CNN 的 Piper Hudspeth Blackburn、Logan Schiciano、Jennifer Agiesta、Matt Meyer、Maureen Chowdhury、Danya Gainor 和 Molly English 也参与了报道。

纽约时报/锡耶纳民调显示，民主党在5场关键的参议院选举中领先

Salwan Georges/Getty Images

在《纽约时报》和锡耶纳大学民意调查中，随着 2026 年中期选举竞选接近尾声，民主党在七场关键的参议院竞选中的五场中保持领先，而在另外两场竞选中则没有明显的领先者。

在密歇根州，民主党候选人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德以53%对42%的绝对优势领先共和党候选人迈克·罗杰斯。在德克萨斯州，民主党候选人詹姆斯·塔拉里科以50%对43%的优势领先共和党候选人肯·帕克斯顿。在缅因州，民主党候选人特洛伊·杰克逊以51%对45%的优势领先现任共和党议员苏珊·柯林斯。

在俄亥俄州，民主党前参议员谢罗德·布朗在可能投票的选民中以49%对44%的支持率领先于共和党参议员乔恩·赫斯特德。而在堪萨斯州，民主党人亚当·汉密尔顿在可能投票的选民中以49%对44%的支持率领先于现任参议员罗杰·马歇尔。

调查显示，阿拉斯加州没有明显的领导权之争，民主党候选人玛丽·佩尔托拉的支持率为 48%，共和党现任参议员丹·沙利文的支持率为 46%；爱荷华州也没有明显的领导权之争，民主党候选人乔什·图雷克的支持率为 48%，共和党候选人阿什利·欣森的支持率为 47%。

这些民调主要集中在最近几天进行，结果与近期其他几个州的民调结果基本一致，但密歇根州的民调显示，选情远比其他州的民调结果更为胶着。CNN委托SSRS进行的民调显示，埃尔-赛义德领先罗杰斯7个百分点，而CNN汇总的民调结果则显示，埃尔-赛义德领先5个百分点。

如果这些民调结果与周二的选举结果相符，那么民主党在四个共和党控制的州取得胜利（且领先幅度超过抽样误差范围），就足以扭转参议院的控制权，前提是民主党还要保住他们目前拥有的所有席位。

即便在这些后期民调中，选情仍有变动空间。除密歇根州外，其他各州的民调均显示民主党候选人的支持率约为50%，这意味着仍有约5%的潜在选民尚未决定支持哪位主要候选人，他们的投票意向可能会影响最终结果，缩小差距。

《纽约时报》/锡耶纳大学民意调查于10月23日至11月1日期间在各州可能投票的选民中进行。完整样本结果的抽样误差幅度分别为：阿拉斯加州+/-4.8个百分点，爱荷华州+/-4.4个百分点，堪萨斯州+/-4.1个百分点，缅因州+/-4.3个百分点，密歇根州+/-3.6个百分点，俄亥俄州+/-4.2个百分点，德克萨斯州+/-3.3个百分点。

在史蒂文斯出人意料地支持罗杰斯之前发生了什么？

Emily Elconin/Bloomberg/Getty Images

就在上周六晚上，民主党人海莉·史蒂文斯在密歇根州参议员竞选中支持共和党人迈克·罗杰斯的可能性似乎还不大。

史蒂文斯发表声明，赞扬民主党候选人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德，因为他表示不同意一则引发争议的广告。该广告将密歇根州的高生活成本归咎于美国对以色列的援助。尽管此前一周外界猜测她会撤回对初选对手埃尔-赛义德的支持，但她一再表示不会这样做。

据一位看过短信的人士透露，上周工作人员联系史蒂文斯，敦促她不要支持罗杰斯时，史蒂文斯回复了一条短信：

就在周六午夜，她还告诉一位重要盟友，她会继续支持埃尔-赛义德。然而到了周日早上，情况发生了变化。

她与罗杰斯一起出现在底特律的一座黑人教堂，然后向聚集在教堂外的记者和社交媒体宣布了她改变主意的消息。

她的举动震惊了政界——包括史蒂文斯的朋友、同事，甚至她自己的国会工作人员，据她的幕僚长和知情人士的声明称，他们中的大多数人都是在社交媒体上得知她的决定后立即辞职的。

决定密歇根州参议院选举结果——以及可能决定唐纳德·特朗普总统任期最后两年哪个党派将控制参议院——的问题是：史蒂文斯对罗杰斯的支持是否会改变选票，或者仅仅是一场政治闹剧。

“我上周一直很担心她，”丁格尔表达了对史蒂文斯的担忧。

民主党众议员黛比·丁格尔 (Debbie Dingell) 在周日接受 CNN 主持人安德森·库珀 (Anderson Cooper) 的紧张采访后，对众议员海莉·史蒂文斯 (Haley Stevens) 表示了担忧。在采访中，库珀质问史蒂文斯为何突然改变立场，转而支持共和党参议员候选人而不是民主党人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德 (Abdul El-Sayed)。

丁格尔表示“今天真是非常艰难的一天”，她认为史蒂文斯转而支持迈克·罗杰斯的做法“适得其反”。

“阿卜杜勒今天筹集了更多资金，超过100万美元，他与去过不同投票站的人们进行了交谈，”她说道，并补充道，“黑人社区的人们真的很生气，因为谁能代表他们说话，到今天结束时，他们不会再有其他人代表他们说话了。”

丁格尔此前曾建议史蒂文斯远离埃尔-赛义德的活动，因为他们之间的裂痕正在加深。

早些时候，当被 CNN 问及对史蒂文斯的举动感到多么惊讶时，丁格尔说：“我当时很震惊，因为她昨晚午夜还告诉我她不会那样做。”

史蒂文斯表示，她支持共和党人的决定“坚定不移”。以下是她接受CNN采访时所说的话。

民主党众议员海莉·史蒂文斯昨晚接受了 CNN 主持人安德森·库珀的采访，谈到了她最后一刻决定撤回对密歇根州民主党参议员候选人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德的支持，转而支持共和党候选人迈克·罗杰斯参加这场意义重大的选举。

史蒂文斯表示，在周日上午与共和党候选人罗杰斯一同出现在底特律的一座教堂后，她决定支持罗杰斯。此前，她与民主党初选中的前对手埃尔-赛义德之间出现了紧张关系。

以下是她接受库珀采访时的几句主要内容：

关于改变的原因：尽管在距离选举日不到48小时之际撤回了支持，史蒂文斯表示“我的想法没有改变”。她告诉库珀：“我只想说，你知道，我花了一些时间思考。今天早上醒来，我头脑清醒，精神焕发，专注于我内心真正的想法，就是这样。”

关于人事变动：这位密歇根州民主党众议员在被问及她获得罗杰斯支持后，其国会幕僚长和其他几位工作人员辞职一事时表示，她目前正处于“过渡期”。她说：“他们都是很棒的人，你知道，我非常关心他们。”她还补充道：“他们可以自由地表达自己对此事的看法。”此前，史蒂文斯的前幕僚长贾斯汀·格曼表示，她的国会团队对罗杰斯的支持感到“震惊和心碎”。

密歇根州民主党众议员海莉·史蒂文斯在接受CNN主持人安德森·库珀采访时表示，在她公开支持共和党参议员候选人迈克·罗杰斯之后，她的团队可以自由表达各自的观点。此前，她的幕僚长曾发表声明称，她的团队中已有多名成员辞职。

关于是否会改变主意，史蒂文斯表示她尚未投票，但她“坚定不移”地支持罗杰斯。“我是一个独立女性，我已经做出了决定，”她说道，并补充道，“我仍然非常热爱我的党派。”

关于她为何改变立场，史蒂文斯拒绝透露促使她撤回支持的真正原因。“我改变主意了。（埃尔-赛义德）说，‘嘿，我不需要你的支持。’这没关系。为什么生气？为什么沮丧？”她说道，回避了促使她突然转变立场的原因。“我希望在民主党内看到更多友善，也希望我们所有人都能接受彼此存在分歧，”她补充道。

CNN的丹娅·盖诺和派珀·哈德斯佩思·布莱克本对本报道亦有贡献。