Even before the Democratic congresswoman Haley Stevens scrambled Michigan’s U.S. Senate race on Sunday by endorsing the Republican candidate, Mike Rogers, another man in her orbit had garnered increased attention: Jason Turkish, her fiancé.
Mr. Turkish said last Wednesday that he would not support the Democratic Party’s nominee for U.S. Senate, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, over his criticisms of Israel. Then, on Sunday, Ms. Stevens threw her support behind Mr. Rogers after joining him for services at a prominent Black church in Detroit, despite previous assurances to Democratic leaders that she would support her party’s ticket.
The feud between Ms. Stevens and Dr. El-Sayed — and the role that Mr. Turkish may have played in the intraparty spat — underlines how the debate over U.S. support of Israel has roiled Democratic politics.
Here’s what else we know.
Who is Jason Turkish?
Mr. Turkish, 39, is a lawyer and fund-raiser for Democratic candidates and Jewish causes. He is based in Southfield, a suburb of Detroit, and graduated from the University of Michigan in 2007, the same year as Dr. El-Sayed. He is also the president and managing partner of Nyman Turkish, a disability rights firm. He has been legally blind since birth.
What is his political background?
Mr. Turkish is a longtime political donor. A self-proclaimed “lifelong Democrat,” he and his firm have given money to multiple Democratic campaigns across the country but he has also donated to at least one Republican, Senator Susan Collins of Maine, according to federal records.
Former Gov. James Blanchard of Michigan, a close friend of Ms. Stevens’s, described Mr. Turkish as “a real political junkie” who has raised a lot of money for Democratic candidates in the state. He is also active in the state’s Jewish and pro-Israel circles and is a donor to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. He has relatives who live and were born in Israel.
How did he meet Haley Stevens?
Mr. Turkish and Ms. Stevens met after the 2022 midterm elections through a mutual friend. They bonded as they discussed her disability rights legislation, she said in interviews, and their conversations about policy evolved into a romantic relationship. They announced their engagement in August, shortly after Ms. Stevens lost the primary election to Dr. El-Sayed.
“We just fell in love,” Ms. Stevens told The Detroit News in August. “We had years of just friendship and conversation, and we have a lot of shared values and commitment to family and friends in Michigan.”
The couple vacationed in Italy and Israel after sharing the news of their engagement. Ms. Stevens has said she has met with a rabbi to discuss converting to Judaism before they get married next summer.
Why is he involved in the Senate race?
In the final week of the campaign, Mr. Turkish said he would vote for Mr. Rogers because he felt Dr. El-Sayed had not sufficiently moderated his views on Israel. Mr. Turkish attended an event for the Republican Jewish Coalition supporting Mr. Rogers shortly after endorsing him.
“I watched Haley graciously concede an election, and open her arms and her heart to Abdul on Aug. 5, the day after the primary, and I prayed that he would moderate, and he hasn’t,” he said in an interview before the event.
On Friday Mr. Turkish appeared on TMZ to explain his support for Mr. Rogers, pointing to a digital advertisement from supporters of Dr. El-Sayed that blames rising grocery prices in the United States on its support for Israel’s military campaign. He called on Dr. El-Sayed to disavow the ad and suggested that if he did not, Ms. Stevens would not support him. Dr. El-Sayed’s campaign sought to distance the candidate from the ad, saying that it was created by a left-wing political action committee, Rebellion PAC, and was “not affiliated in any way” with him or his candidacy.
On Sunday, when Ms. Stevens appeared alongside Mr. Rogers at the Perfecting Church in Detroit, Mr. Turkish was also in attendance.
The post Who Is Jason Turkish, Haley Stevens’s Fiancé? appeared first on New York Times.
