Stevens says of El-Sayed: “Differences were aired out”

Washington — Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens of Michigan said Thursday she’s moving on from the contentious Senate primary, which she lost to Abdul El-Sayed, saying their “differences were aired out.” 

“Everything that needed to be said in the primary was said,” Stevens said in an interview with “The Takeout with Major Garrett.” “It’s a big tent party.” 

Stevens acknowledged that the race put the schism within the Democratic Party over U.S. support for Israel on display, but said “the time for all this negative, nasty, the disunity stuff — it’s over.” 

El-Sayed attacked Stevens throughout the campaign for support she received from the pro-Israel lobby. El-Sayed has been highly critical of Israel’s government and the war in Gaza, while Stevens continues to back sending U.S. military aid to Israel. 

“I’m going to continue to hold my beliefs. I know it’s a a word sometimes that people don’t understand, but I am a Democratic Zionist,” she said. “There is a home in the party that I’m still in for someone like me.” 

Though Stevens stressed a unified front moving forward, she was evasive on whether she would appear with El-Sayed on the campaign trail as he takes on his Republican opponent in the November race, former Rep. Mike Rogers. 

“Abdul’s got a big campaign to run,” she said. “We did the unity deal.” 

“My focus here is, no Rogers. No Republicans,” she added. “Abdul and I had our primary. It’s over. It’s over.”