BIGGEST LOSER
The national media has had some fun at the expense of U.S. Representative Haley Stevens’ (D-Birmingham, Oakland County). The congresswoman, who lost the Democratic Senate nomination in the August primary to Abdul El-Sayed, endured ridicule and parody during the campaign for previously out-of-bounds things like her appearance, purported weight gain, her Midwest accent as well as her wholehearted support of Israel. Since losing to El-Sayed by less than one percent, she revealed she became engaged to Huntington Woods disability and discrimination attorney Jason Turkish, which clearly has lightened her feeling of loss – despite calling herself “the best loser in America!” to TMZ in a loose and rambling interview in Washington DC in early October. The TMZ interview, which began by teasing her about her voice and Midwest accent, which she played along with, captured her folksy enthusiasm, including about being engaged to the “tallest Jewish man in Michigan.” “I’m a spirited person, I just love the country, I love my state...there’s always another election.” The interview was so enthusiastic The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon spoofed it the next night, with an actor playing Stevens bounding on the set to join Fallon. Fallon asked, “Is that how you really talk?” Stevens said appearing on either TMZ nor Fallon had been on her bucket list, but “it’s no harm in having a little fun at my own expense after a high stakes close election I ultimately didn’t win. Have been carrying the banner as the best loser in America and having fun with it while I continue to help candidates like Christina Hines (for M-10) win her race. And soon enough it will be back to regular programing…finishing my term in congress.”
