Michigan Democratic state Rep. Karen Whitsett crossed party lines to support Republican Mike Rogers in his campaign against Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed. Whitsett appeared alongside Rogers as he launched a coalition aimed at Michigan Democrats who believe El-Sayed’s progressive platform no longer represents them. Her most pointed warning concerned El-Sayed’s support for Medicare for All and what it could mean for private health insurance.
The “Democrats for Rogers” event took place in a residential neighborhood on Detroit’s west side, where Rogers appealed directly to voters who ordinarily support Democratic candidates. El-Sayed narrowly defeated Rep. Haley Stevens in Michigan’s bruising Democratic primary earlier in August, leaving Rogers an opening with moderates who backed Stevens. Rogers has since made winning over those voters a central part of his general-election campaign.
Whitsett is serving her fourth term in the Michigan House and represents part of Detroit. Although elected as a Democrat, she has repeatedly broken with her party and worked with Republicans on issues ranging from public safety to taxes and abortion. She has also clashed with Democratic leaders in Lansing and announced that she will not seek another term in the state House.
A video posted by Rogers’ campaign showed Whitsett welcoming Rogers to her neighborhood and explaining why she was willing to appear with the Republican nominee. “I am very happy to stand here on my block, and this is actually my mother-in-law’s home, and I actually live a few doors down,” she said. Whitsett compared Rogers to former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and said she was “very confident that he won’t leave us behind.”
Whitsett turned to El-Sayed’s signature healthcare proposal. “I do not want to lose my Blue Cross Blue Shield,” she said. “My husband is an operating engineer, and I want my health insurance. I don’t think people really realize what is on the line. You will lose your health insurance if the other candidate gets in office. There’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it. That is what Medicare for All means.”
The Detroit Democrat argued that transferring more authority over healthcare to the federal government would leave patients with fewer choices and longer waits. She warned that those already frustrated by spending hours in an emergency room could face considerably worse conditions under the system El-Sayed supports. Her appearance gave Rogers an elected Democratic surrogate who could make that case directly to voters in heavily Democratic Detroit.
Watch Whitsett join Rogers and warn voters about El-Sayed here:
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Whitsett was joined by other Democrats who said they planned to vote for Rogers in November. Chelsea Rebeck described herself as a lifelong Democrat who had voted for Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Sen. Elissa Slotkin. She said she had strongly supported Stevens in the primary but could not support El-Sayed. “I am not a socialist. I’m not a communist,” she said. “I am a Democrat voting for Mike because I know he shares the values that I do.”
Rabbi Asher Lopatin also appeared at the event and criticized El-Sayed’s relationship with socialist streamer Hasan Piker, who campaigned with the Democratic nominee. Lopatin said he normally votes for Democrats but would support Rogers because of his concerns about El-Sayed and Piker’s rhetoric concerning Israel and Jewish Americans. Rogers told the assembled voters that he was not asking them to change their party registration, saying, “I’m asking you for the opportunity to earn your trust.”
El-Sayed, a former director of Wayne County’s Department of Health, Human, and Veterans Services, won the Democratic nomination after campaigning on Medicare for All, taxing billionaire wealth, and abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He received prominent backing from figures on the party’s left, including Senator Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Rogers and El-Sayed will compete on November 3rd for the open Senate seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Senator Gary Peters.
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.