Jeremy Moss Backs El-Sayed as Michigan Jewish Leaders Split Over Stevens Endorsement

Michigan congressional candidate Jeremy Moss endorsed Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed on Sunday at the United Auto Workers headquarters in Detroit. The Jewish state senator appeared with former congressman Andy Levin and state Senator Mallory McMorrow, hours after Democratic Representative Haley Stevens backed Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers. Moss had previously disagreed publicly with El-Sayed and had not endorsed him. He is seeking the House seat Stevens left while pursuing the Democratic Senate nomination, which she lost to El-Sayed. Moss said, “I would rather debate our disagreements in a democratic institution.” He argued that preserving democratic institutions mattered more than their policy differences and accused Donald Trump and Rogers of weakening those institutions. A simultaneous Zoom meeting reflected a different response among Jewish voters concerned about El-Sayed’s rhetoric on Israel. Representative Hillary Scholten joined several rabbis but did not tell participants how to vote or mention Stevens. Some leaders of the Nonnegotiable campaign urged a write-in vote for Emma Lazarus. Rabbi Aaron Starr of Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield expressed respect for Stevens’s willingness to take her position. Stevens said she would vote for Rogers, citing opposition to hate and concerns about political commentator Hasan Piker. El-Sayed dismissed her endorsement as a distraction. Moss’s appearance and the separate Jewish-community discussion illustrated differing responses to the endorsement, with Levin and McMorrow urging support for the Democratic nominee while some participants in the other gathering rejected both Senate candidates.