Republican frontrunner Mike Rogers rips El-Sayed and Stevens in bid for Michigan Senate race

As Michigan’s Senate race shapes up to be one of the most consequential in the nation, Trump-endorsed former Congressman Mike Rogers stands as the clear Republican frontrunner as he awaits the winner of a tight Democratic primary.

The Senate seat has been left open after Democratic Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan announced his retirement in January. Following Mike Rogers' narrow loss to Sen. Elissa Slotkin in 2024 by fewer than 20,000 votes, even as President Trump carried the state, the seat is viewed as a prime opportunity for Republicans to flip in 2026. 

“We want to be a part of the arsenal of democracy here,” Mike Rogers, a former Michigan congressman, told the John Solomon Reports podcast on Wednesday. He said that his key priorities included making Michigan’s automobile industry more competitive through lower energy rates, protecting American jobs from Chinese competition, recovering jobs in the defense industrial base, and reintroducing skilled trades in high schools.

He noted that the “Trump plan has actually started working” to help Michigan's auto industry recover through tariffs, and argued that targeted tariffs could ensure trade is "fair" and protect local agriculture.

On the Democrat side, the primary has become a two-person contest after State Sen. Mallory McMorrow dropped out of the race, leaving candidates Abdul El-Sayed and Rep. Haley Stevens.

Stevens’ campaign centers on manufacturing, jobs, and Michigan’s auto industry, while El-Sayed is running on a platform of “Medicare-for-all," campaign finance reform, and abolishing ICE, while making the war in Gaza a focal point of his campaign.

El-Sayed is a former Detroit Health official who has the endorsement of progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

“We call him the Mamdani of Michigan, who takes that whole platform, and you know, he's good. You shouldn't underestimate a guy who's charismatic and has the ability to communicate,” said Rogers, adding, “He can weave a pretty good story about why socialism is good for you.”

Rogers criticized El-Sayed’s association with Hasan Piker, who said "America deserved 9/11" during a 2019 Twitch livestream, as well as El-Sayed’s response to a violent incident at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield where a gunman drove a truck with explosives into the synagogue. El-Sayed had responded saying that the gunman had lost his family in Lebanon, and that "hurt people hurt people.”

Rogers said that the polls were indicating that El-Sayed could be the Democratic nominee. He noted that Sanders and AOC are scheduled to visit Michigan this weekend for the "The People vs. Powerful" tour, noting they were drawing thousands to their rallies.

“What's a little terrifying is young kids. We're not sure how they're getting all of this, or younger adults, I should say, are kind of marching to this drum….this talk about how bad America is,” said Rogers.

The other contestant, Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., is backed by the establishment wing of the party and groups like American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). 

Rogers called Stevens “a liberal Congressperson that we would think is too liberal for Michigan, but not liberal enough for the left of their party," noting that Stevens had voted against rejecting California EV mandates, which he said was hurting Michigan automobile makers, and that she was “caught up in all of the LGBTQ issues, the transgender ideology, all of that."

Rogers noted that the Democrats had spent a total of up to $40 million in the last three months to “prop her up,” but said that polling indicated that “she was not there yet.” 

Bridge Michigan notes that outside spending has surpassed $40 million for Michigan’s Senate race, with more than half directly benefiting Stevens, while according to the Detroit News/WDIV-TV (Channel 4) poll of 500 likely Michigan Democratic primary voters on Tuesday, Stevens received 48% of support compared to 41% for El-Sayed.

Meanwhile, Rogers noted that the Democratic primary was divided, pointing to voters on social media vowing to never support the opposing candidate if they won the nomination. 

Gary Peters has also reversed his neutrality and endorsed Stevens on Monday, saying that she would be “ready on day one to fight for Michigan,” reflecting how party leaders view Stevens as the safer, more moderate option to face Republican Mike Rogers in the November general election. 

“That's music to our ears. That just means that we continue to push our ideas and connect with voters and in a positive way and get some things done here, we're going to win,” said Rogers.

Michigan is set to hold its primary on August 4th.