Republican Mike Rogers Courts Michigan Democrats and Trump Voters as GOP Hopes to Hold the Senate

Republican Mike Rogers is running for U.S. Senate in Michigan, and he has a tricky job. He needs to win votes from Democrats and independents — groups that don't usually support Republicans — while also making sure loyal supporters of former President Donald Trump show up to vote. His opponent is progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, and their race has become one of the most important Senate contests in the country.

Rogers lost a Senate race two years ago by fewer than 19,000 votes out of more than 5.5 million cast. That narrow loss showed him that he could not win by relying only on Republican voters. This time, he is betting he can win over some Democrats and independents, especially Black and Jewish voters who have concerns about El-Sayed's views. His campaign chairman put it simply: 'He is threading a needle.'

One of Rogers' big focus areas is Detroit, a city where most voters are Democrats. He showed up outside Cody High School on a rainy morning to talk about Michigan's struggling reading scores. 'This is the civil rights issue of our lifetime,' he said. He also promoted a plan to build new homes in Detroit, where many empty lots have sat vacant since the Great Recession nearly 20 years ago.

Rogers sees a real chance in Wayne County, which includes Detroit and where about three-quarters of the residents are Black. In the last Senate race, Rogers lost the county by more than 264,000 votes. His team believes that if he can close that gap even a little, he could win the whole race. They are encouraged because El-Sayed lost Wayne County to his Democratic primary opponent.

Some Black Democrats in Detroit have been cool toward El-Sayed. They preferred his primary opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens, who had stronger ties to Black churches and helped with the Obama administration's auto rescue plan. Some Black activists also blame El-Sayed for backing the 'uncommitted' campaign during the 2024 Democratic presidential primary, which was meant to protest the Biden administration's policy on Gaza. They believe it hurt Kamala Harris, who lost Michigan to Trump by about 1.4 percentage points.

Rogers is also picking up support from some Jewish Democrats, mainly in Oakland County, Michigan's second-largest county. El-Sayed has said he opposes U.S. military aid to Israel and has called Israel's military campaign in Gaza a 'genocide,' a word that upset many Jewish voters. He also made comments after an attack on Michigan's largest Jewish congregation that some saw as making excuses for the violence. He later apologized, but the damage was done for many voters.

This Senate seat is open because Democrat Gary Peters is not running for reelection. If Rogers wins, Republicans would keep their majority in the Senate even if Democrats flip as many as four other Republican-held seats elsewhere. More money has been spent here — nearly $125 million since the August primary — than on any other race where Republicans have a chance to gain a seat. A group tied to Trump's political operation alone spent $18.5 million on ads in Michigan.

Rogers has had to walk a careful line when it comes to Trump. After the 2020 election, he clearly said Joe Biden had won fairly and criticized Trump's claims of widespread fraud. But more recently, he praised Trump's 'commitment to transparency' after Trump repeated those same disproven claims. At a Republican convention speech, Rogers never mentioned Trump by name, but he echoed words linked to Michigan native Todd Beamer, a passenger on United Flight 93 on 9/11, telling the crowd: 'America, let's roll.'