The Associated Press is reporting that former Republican Congressman Mike Rogers, a Livingston County native who graduated from Howell High School, will soon announce a bid for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat.
That’s according to three people familiar with the matter who spoke to the AP, but are not being named by the news organization. They say an official announcement is expected in the next several days.
The 60-year-old Rogers represented Livingston County in the U.S. House for seven terms from 2001 to 2015, and also served as Chairman of the powerful House Intelligence Committee, before retiring from politics, moving to Florida and becoming a defense lobbyist.
While several other Michigan Republican candidates have announced campaigns for the seat, including state Board of Education member Nikki Snyder, Rogers’ entrance into the race would provide the first big-name Republican to seek the seat being vacated by the retiring Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow.
On the Democratic side, actor Hill Harper and State Board of Education President Pamela Pugh are among the announced candidates, but the front-runner is Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin (D-Lansing) who currently represents the most of the same district that Rogers did.
Slotkin, known as a prodigious fundraiser, has gathered nearly $6 million in campaign contributions since announcing her bid in February. While Rogers would also be expected to tap his connections and raise millions of dollars, some question whether he can win over the MAGA-faithful to gain the nomination.
In 2018, Rogers said then-President Trump was “fundamentally wrong” in his assessment of Russian President Vladimir Putin, called Trump’s political tactics “destructive.” and would not commit to supporting Trump for President in 2024 if he is the GOP nominee.
However, Republicans are eager to take back control of the U.S. Senate from Democrats, who hold a slim 51-49 majority, and see Michigan’s open seat as a must-win with many analysts saying Rogers is their best bet to do that if he can get the nomination.
