Why I am Voting for Haley Stevens and You Should Too

There was a time when being a Midwestern Democrat in the House of Representatives stood for moderation, collaboration and willingness to work across the aisle. When using common sense — to support the working class, to help small businesses thrive, to work with local both Democratic and Republican officials in your district, to bring Federal funds to support infrastructure and education, to promote job creation and economic growth — was expected from our elected Democrats. Democratic members of the House from our region were the ones who built the big Democratic tent, the ones who espoused the kind of values that best represented Michigan voters.

Haley Stevens follows these traditions. She is one of the most effective and hard-working members of the House. Her work supporting Michigan’s manufacturing and her active participation in non-partisan efforts to introduce legislation that is critical to our economy and workers have won her the appreciation of labor as well as manufacturing leaders.

Haley’s commitment to innovation and science reflects her forward-thinking pragmatic approach to helping keep Michigan competitive in the 21st century. This is exactly the approach we need to keep our young people here in Michigan — by ensuring that 21st-century jobs are created here.

Haley has a proven track record of working to support the efforts of local municipalities in her current congressional district. Just ask county, township and city officials about her level of engagement and commitment to supporting their priorities — you’ll quickly discover why so many of them, regardless of party affiliation, consider her the best option for the district.

She is clearly the candidate who best embodies the values and concerns of voters in her Congressional District (MI-11). Haley works hard for her constituents and her Constituent Services team has helped return over $100 million in federal funds by resolving over 5,000 cases in her district. This can-do attitude is reflected in her legislative agenda. She introduces or co-sponsors legislation that has a real chance of passing — versus legislative efforts that are designed to create social media headlines.

When it comes to Israel, Haley is unabashed about her commitment to a strong US-Israeli partnership. She has committed to strengthening the partnership and works diligently to expand her knowledge on the issues. She understands the realities and threats facing Israel; unlike Andy Levin, she believes that risks taken by Israel are Israel’s to take, since the Israelis are the ones who are going to pay the price.

Take some time to read Andy’s social media posts about Israel and you will quickly understand that his positions are one-sided, provocative and not reflective of the realities on the ground or the threats Israel faces on a daily basis. For all his stated positions, his knowledge and experience regarding the entire issue are at best limited. Many of his public proclamations about the conflict lack substance and don’t meet the test of reality. While Andy keeps claiming to be against BDS, he has never publicly reputed hateful and false statements repeatedly made by his close friends Representatives Rashia Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar.

Andy's first-ever trip to Israel as a sitting congressman was dedicated entirely to one-sided tweets demonizing Israel. Andy was silent when Amnesty International released their recent “report.”

Haley was quick to denounce it, writing:

“Whether, through the chronic bias displayed by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) or accusations put out by groups like Amnesty International, I stand opposed to efforts to unjustifiably brand Israel as an ‘apartheid state,’ and I will always work to mitigate the threat of delegitimization against our closest friends in the Middle East.”

When it comes to the actual campaign, Haley has deliberately avoided attack ads. She has been running a positive campaign focusing on her record and her ideas. For all of his progressive values, Andy’s campaign is anything but progressive. He has spent almost all of his efforts on negative messaging, attacks and smears. Andy’s key point in his negative ads is that, unlike Haley, he has not taken special interest money — yet Andy has actually taken a significant amount of special interest and PAC money, which he has not returned.

Haley chose to run in the newly drawn district that includes large parts of her current congressional district. Andy’s decision to run against Haley, and not to compete in a newly drawn district that includes large portions of his current district and voters, is an unfortunate one that may cost us a Democratic seat in the next Congress and could jeopardize a democratic majority.

In the end, this campaign is as much about the soul of the Democratic party in Oakland County — either as a moderate party that reflects the values and concerns of the majority of voters or a party that is drifting dangerously to the left, making the Democratic tent ever smaller and less relevant to voters.

Haley is the big-tent pragmatic, effective, collaborative and positive candidate this county needs. She remains solidly behind the key issues of our time, like fair wages, environment, reproductive choice, wage equality, and access to affordable medical care. Haley is the best-qualified candidate for Michigan’s new 11th Congressional District — to win in the November general election and to represent us in Washington.