Republican former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers of White Lake on Monday formally announced his entry into the race for what will be Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat next year.
It comes as no surprise: Rogers, a former state legislator and former FBI agent who from 2001 to 2015 represented what was then Michigan’s 8th Congressional District, has said he was “strongly considering” entering the race after sitting Democratic U.S. Sen. Gary Peters said in January he would sit out a race for a third six-year term.
Rogers, who had been living in Florida and had lived in Howell when he formerly represented the state in Congress, moved back to Michigan ahead of an achingly close election he lost last year for an open U.S. Senate seat won by Democratic former U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Holly. Slotkin won the seat that had previously been held by former U.S. Rep. Debbie Stabenow by about three-tenths of 1 percentage point, or 19,006 votes out of nearly 5.6 million cast.
In a prepared release announcing his candidacy on Monday morning at 7 a.m., Rogers’ campaign said, “‘Show up and do the hard work.’ That is the lesson that Mike’s parents taught him and his four brothers growing up in Livingston County – and it is the same lesson that he will live by as Michigan’s next U.S. senator. For too long, Michigan has been sold short by politicians who campaign as ‘moderates’ but govern as radical leftists. That ends today. With Democrats set to pour millions of dollars into Michigan, we know that the road to 2026 starts now. Mike will be an ally for President (Donald) Trump and champion for Michigan.”
The campaign also released a 2-minute-long video from Rogers. “I’ll stand with President Trump and we will deliver on the mandate given to him by the American people,” he said in the video.
Rogers enters the race for the open U.S. Senate seat as a prohibitive favorite to win the Republican nomination, given his showing in last year’s race. There are questions for him to answer as well, however. Chief among them is whether his close loss last year − in a year in which President Donald Trump carried Michigan, albeit narrowly − represents the high-water mark for Republicans running for U.S. Senate in a state where they haven’t won a Senate seat since Spencer Abraham’s single-term in 1994.
Other questions include whether Rogers will again enjoy Trump’s endorsement, which helped him greatly in 2024, as Rogers had previously questioned the president’s false claims about having won the 2020 election. Trump also won’t be a factor in driving Republican turnout, since he won’t be on the ticket, and it is far from clear how his policies − especially a series of tariffs on imports that many economists agree will raise prices and increase the risk of recession − will affect his and other Republicans’ standing among Michigan voters.
Politically speaking, Rogers, who rose to lead the House Intelligence Committee in Congress and following his stint in the U.S. House worked for businesses and as a cable TV commentator on issues of national security and cyber-security, has always been a staunch conservative, favoring smaller government, less regulation and freer markets. He also consistently supported restrictions on abortion rights but said in the last election he would respect Michigan’s decision to enact a referendum protecting rights to reproductive freedom.
Since he and Trump endorsed one another in the last election, Rogers has been a full-throated supporter of the president’s agenda.
He enters a race where the Republican field is uncertain. U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, of Holland Township, who has been in Congress since 2011, is looking at a possible run for the seat, as is Tudor Dixon, who won the Republican nomination for governor with Trump’s endorsement in 2022 and lost to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. State Sen. Jonathan Lindsey, R-Coldwater, has also been mentioned by pundits as a possible candidate, though a Trump endorsement for Rogers, if it is coming, could potentially clear the field.
Dr. Kent Benham, a dentist in the Deerfield area, has also filed to run as a Republican, as has Fred Heurtebise of Luther, whose website describes him as a welder and engineer.
Democrats, meanwhile, will hotly contest the race for the open seat being vacated by Peters. State Sen. Mallory McMorrow of Royal Oak, announced her candidacy for the seat two weeks ago, giving the race its first big-name candidate, and U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham and former Wayne County health director Dr. Abdul El-Sayed are both considering entering the race, and state Attorney General Dana Nessel has been discussed by pundits as a possibly entry as well.
Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Mike Rogers enters US Senate race a second time