Michigan Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens rallied behind former opponent Abdul El-Sayed following her narrow Senate primary defeat last week, casting the decision as a matter of accepting the will of Democratic voters despite their political differences.
"That's called democracy," Stevens said while defending her endorsement on Tuesday.
"You don't sign up for a Democratic Party to be salty grapes and... just continue to hold a grudge," she added.
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Stevens, who was viewed as the more moderate of the Democrats vying to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, spent the primary drawing contrasts with El-Sayed on issues ranging from Israel to the direction of the Democratic Party.
Those differences haven't disappeared with the primary.
During an appearance on "America's Newsroom," Stevens reaffirmed her identity as a "Zionist Democrat" while acknowledging that candidates who share her politics haven't been faring as well in Democratic primaries.
"I believe in democracy. He won the majority of the votes, and I'm going to continue to stand by my positions," she told co-anchor Bill Hemmer.
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"I'm a Zionist Democrat. I am a Democrat who gets endorsed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO. I have been recognized over and over again as one of our most effective lawmakers. I identify problems and I solve them... I'm a patriot. I love our freedoms. I love this country and, yes, I am still in the Democratic Party, even though folks like me maybe aren't winning our primaries."
El-Sayed, meanwhile, has emerged as a prominent figure on the party's progressive flank.
While he rejects the "socialist" label, El-Sayed backs several progressive policies, including abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), ending U.S. military aid to Israel and establishing Medicare for all.
Stevens also drew a clear distinction between her former opponent and socialism, noting that her former rival had rejected the label before offering her own assessment of the ideology.
"My Democratic opponent, now the Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan, has disavowed socialism. I think we all should. It's dangerous," she said.
She went on to identify herself as a "proud... Democratic labor capitalist" who had made that aspect of her identity a tenet of her campaign.
