Fmr Rep. Rogers to Newsmax: Michigan Senate Race Is a 'Change Election'

Republican Senate candidate and former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers told Newsmax on Saturday that Michigan voters are ready for a political shift, framing the 2026 race for the state's open Senate seat as a "change election" driven by economic anxiety and frustration with Democratic governance in Lansing.

Rogers, who lost the 2024 Senate race to Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., by roughly 18,700 votes out of more than 5.5 million cast, told "America Right Now" he believes the political climate has shifted in his favor as he seeks the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich.

"This is a change election in Michigan," Rogers said, citing what he described as declining education rankings, manufacturing job losses, and the highest auto insurance and electric rates in the region.

The interview came as the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., announced a $45 million ad reservation in Michigan to support Rogers, the largest single-state offensive investment in its 2026 portfolio. The reservation is set to begin in late August, after the state's Aug. 4 primary.

Rogers argued that the national Democratic Party has shifted further left, and he sought to tie his potential opponents to that shift.

He called state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, "California dreaming," and faulted fellow Democratic contender Abdul El-Sayed, a former Detroit health official, for appearing in campus events with controversial progressive online streamer Hasan Piker.

He also pointed to Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, a Marine veteran whose campaign confirmed last year that he covered up a chest tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol and who allegedly acknowledged past Reddit posts in which he identified as a communist.

"The Democrat Party in America has shifted left," Rogers said. "We're common sense. We're working-class people. We care about building things in this state."

Rogers said the economy and jobs are at the center of the race and pointed to a housing affordability proposal his campaign has rolled out.

He said he wants to bring back apprenticeships, "put shop back in every high school in this state to rebuild our skilled workforce," and draw higher-end manufacturing and defense-industrial-base work back to Michigan.

He cast the contest as a referendum on Democratic stewardship of the state, faulting his opponents for opposing a federal no-tax-on-overtime provision he said would benefit roughly 3 million Michigan families.

"They don't care about working people and what it means to struggle at the end of the month," Rogers said.

McMorrow led Democratic primary fundraising in the first quarter of 2026 with more than $3 million, ahead of El-Sayed and U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich. The Aug. 4 primary will set the field for the November general election.

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