Stevens stops short of full endorsement of El-Sayed days before Michigan Senate vote

Days before Tuesday's midterm election, Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., again declined to say she is fully behind her former primary rival, Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, exposing lingering friction in a race both parties see as pivotal to control of the Senate.

Appearing on CNN with Dana Bash on Sunday, Stevens was asked directly whether she was "still fully behind" El-Sayed, who narrowly defeated her in August's bitter Democratic primary. She did not say yes. "Look, I'm on the Democratic ticket," Stevens said, adding, "I can't say that I agree with everything that's gone on," according to a report carried by 930 WFMD, citing the Fox News interview.

A primary that exposed deep divides

The race is for the seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters. El-Sayed, a physician and former Michigan health official who campaigns on Medicare for All and ending U.S. military aid to Israel, beat Stevens by less than a percentage point in August, according to Jewish Insider's coverage of the primary's aftermath. The primary laid bare divisions over Israel, Iran and the direction of the Democratic Party that have persisted since.

El-Sayed faces former Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican nominee, who has cast El-Sayed as outside the political mainstream. With early and absentee voting already underway and Election Day three days off, both parties are making closing arguments to the same bloc of persuadable voters Stevens represented in the primary.