Tipsheet

While Her Senate Rivals Campaign Statewide, Haley Stevens Hides From Voters

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  February 10, 2026 2:45 PM

Haley Stevens, the Democratic Congressional Representative from Michigan's 11th District, announced last April that she was running for the Senate to "move the needle forward." But Stevens' opponents are noticing she's failed to keep her campaign promises to her constituents and even appears to be in hiding as the Democratic primary election draws nearer.

Stevens is running against fellow Democrats Mallory McMorrow and Abdul El-Sayed, both of whom are barnstorming the state for a chance to fill the Senate seat left open by Gary Peters. Peters announced he would not be seeking reelection in 2026.

In 2018, Stevens signed a Town Hall pledge, promising to hold at least four town halls each year. After taking office, she vowed to her constituents that she would be accessible, calling that her "number one priority" in a Facebook post. "I'm here to learn, listen, and lead — in that order!" Stevens wrote. That first year, Stevens kept her promise and held 12 town halls in her congressional district between January 13 and September 3. The following year, she held just two in-district town halls prior to the COVID pandemic. In 2021, Stevens held just one town hall.

Between 2022 and 2025, Stevens held just eight in-person town halls, and it appears just four of them were in her district. The 2022 town hall, slated to discuss Pontiac senior centers, was announced in a press release from Stevens' office, but there's no official record of it taking place, and Stevens posted on Facebook that she voted in favor of Rep. Bobby Rush’s Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act on the House floor that night. In 2023, Stevens traveled to Florida for an "environmental town hall” at the University of Central Florida. In 2024, she held no in-person town halls at all, just a "tele town hall" on December 16.

Her 2025 town hall was on the outer edge of her district, in Rochester, MI. 

She held two tele town halls last year.

Meanwhile, both Morrow and El-Sayed have held multiple events around the state. Between October 3 and December 2, 2025, the two held a total of nine town halls around the state.

Last Friday, the Democrat duo even trolled Stevens after she was a no-show at the Michigan Black Summit.

"Missed you at the Michigan Black Summit @haleyformi," El-Sayed wrote on Instagram.

While Mallory McMorrow and Abdul El-Sayed crisscross Michigan, meeting voters face-to-face and making their cases, Haley Stevens’ absence has become an issue in its own right. In a primary where enthusiasm, turnout, and trust will matter, voters should be reminded that Stevens has broken her campaign promises. If those voters are expecting accessibility from their next senator, they may decide that the candidates showing up now are the ones most likely to show up later.