Former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers announced he is running for the U.S. Senate as a Republican to take the empty seat that would be left by U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Oakland County). This is Rogers’ second straight run at the office. In 2024, he lost a competitive race in the general election by 21,179 votes.
Rogers’ announcement advertisement was posted on YouTube as a kind of resume, saying he would stand with President Donald Trump.
“Show up and do the hard work,” he said.
Rogers, 61, a Brighton Republican, is the former chair of the House Intelligence Committee and served seven terms in the U.S. House until 2015. He has a background in law enforcement, working as a special agent for the FBI and serving in the U.S. Army before later running for state Senate, serving as majority floor leader from 1999-2000. Rogers was born and raised in Livingston County, attending Howell High School and later Adrian College, earning a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and sociology in 1985. He is married to Kristi and they have two adult children.
In the video, he touted his time in Congress and the state Senate. He played up his work in cybersecurity as he mentioned threats from China, Russia and Iran.
He also tried to tie Peters and U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly) to New York Sen. Chuck Schumer.
He embraced the “America First” policies but added Michigan to the mix.
Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel said Rogers “has shown Michiganders time and again that he only fights for himself: he abandoned Michigan for a million-dollar mansion in Florida more than a decade ago, walked through the ‘revolving door’ to get rich and cash out at Michiganders’ expense, and his threats to Social Security and support for reckless tariffs will spike costs for Michigan families.
“Michiganders will once again see Rogers for who he is – a self-serving politician who is only ever looking out for himself, and they’ll reject him again just like they did in 2024.”
Rogers appeared on Garrett Soldano’s Grassroots Army podcast Friday where he mentioned that he was winning in Michigan when he went to bed on Nov. 5.
“Not to mention the very unusual truckload of ballots showing up at four in the morning in Detroit. We were winning up until that point,” Rogers said. “We learned a lot on that go around, and we feel much better prepared to go after this thing.”
He claimed he closely matched the Trump votes over other Senate races in the United States and said he got more total votes than any other Republican running for Senate in Michigan history.
He said he joked with his campaign team that if they would have had “three more weeks,” he would have won, by hitting Slotkin with the transgender sports issues.
Soldano asked if Rogers would start going after Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak) on issues regarding men in women’s sports, which Rogers said they had already started in the Detroit media markets.
“We’re going to take the bark off of them early, and McMorrow is an easy target. She is a fiery, flaming liberal from New Jersey who came to Michigan in 2018 and now wants to be our Senator,” Rogers said.
Soldano asked about fundraising and said he was wondering if there would be “donor burnout” on the Republican side for Rogers.
He said 70 percent of the money they raised in the 2024 election happened after the primary.
“If we get in the same circumstance, where you are not raising money until after the primary, nobody will win. No conservative Republican will win this state. Won’t happen.” Rogers said.
While he talked on Soldano’s podcast like he was already running, when asked directly if he was running, he said to wait until April 14.
“We’re going to be the 800-pound gorilla coming down the tracks, and we’re going to take the bark off,” he said.
Article courtesy MIRS News for SBAM’s Lansing Watchdog newsletter
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