Multiple news outlets are reporting that we’ve predicted for months now: Mike Rogers will soon be announcing a run in the Republican primary to replace retiring Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow. Earlier in August, we reported that Rogers — former Congressman, former State Senator, former FBI agent, Army veteran, and one of Livingston County’s favorite sons — was tying up some loose-end business issues before announcing.
Rogers has been making all the moves of a Senate candidate: he attended the Livingston County GOP picnic in May as the event’s “special guest”; he’s made appearances around Michigan, including speaking at events for the Lansing Regional and Greater Brighton Area chambers of commerce. The one thing standing in his way was that he had been living in Florida.
When he makes his announcement — which news reports say he’ll do in the next few days — it could set up one of the biggest political barn-burners of 2024 as Democrats battle to hold on to their slim Senate majority.
Rogers will have a lot of ground to make up. He’s been out of the Michigan political scene for a few years, and U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, currently leading the Democratic pack of hopefuls, has raised a whopping $6 million, the most raised in the first two quarters by a U.S. Senate campaign in Michigan history. A July poll by Mitchell Research and Communications with MIRS News has Slotkin leading Rogers 44% to 38% in a hypothetical head-to-head match-up in 2024. And how much support Michigan’s chaotic, cash-strapped Republican Party will give remains to be seen.
Rogers and Slotkin, said to be friends, are cut from the same national security cloth: Slotkin’s served on the Homeland Security, Armed Services, and Veterans Affairs committees, while Rogers was chair of the House Intelligence Committee.
What is interesting about a Slotkin/Rogers matchup is that along with Stabenow, all three have represented Livingston County in Congress, and all three are among the most talented politicians and retail campaigners around.
There are three candidates who have announced runs in the Republican primary so far: Michigan State Board of Education member Nikki Snyder; business executive Michael Hoover; and attorney Alexandria Taylor. Democrats who’ve filed for the primary so far are actor Hill Harper; businessperson Nasser Bedouin; attorney Zack Burns; former state Rep. Leslie Love; and president of the Michigan State Board of Education Pamela Pugh.
