DETROIT (AP) — Mike Rogers stood outside Cody High School on Detroit’s west side on a recent drizzly morning and decried Michigan’s decline in reading achievement.
asserted
Rogers → stand → achievement
“This is the civil rights issue of our lifetime,” said the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in the open-seat race in November.
asserted
nominee → say → November
It had the look and sound of a Democratic campaign policy event, set in one of the nation’s Democratic-voting strongholds.
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It → have → strongholds
The contest has quickly become a focal point in the fight for Senate control, and Rogers is working to appeal to segments of Michigan’s Democratic electorate.
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Rogers → become → electorate
It’s a key to what the former congressman sees as his path to defeating progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed this fall.
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congressman → ’ → Sayed
Rogers lost his first bid for Senate two years ago by barely 19,000 votes out of more than 5.5 million cast.
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Rogers → lose → million
This time, he is betting he can win over some Democrats and independents, particularly Black and Jewish voters who may be turned off by El-Sayed’s positions, which are to the left of his party’s establishment, notably on U.S.-Israel relations.
uncertain
which → bet → relations
At the same time, Rogers must rally Donald Trump loyalists to turn out to vote, even though the president isn’t on the ballot.
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president → rally → ballot
“He is threading a needle,” said Bobby Schostak, Rogers’ campaign finance chairman.
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Schostak → thread → needle
Rogers is reaching into heavily Democratic Detroit
Rogers’ event outside Cody was part of his promotion of a nonprofit program to boost literacy in Michigan’s largest city.
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event → reach → city
A few days later, he promoted a home construction plan in downtown Detroit, where many thousands of lots remain vacant almost 20 years after the Great Recession.
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thousands → promote → Recession
Rogers’ campaign sees opportunity in racially and culturally diverse Wayne County, home to Detroit, where roughly three-quarters of the population is Black.
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quarters → see → population
In the 2024 Senate race, then-U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat, won the county by more than a 2-to-1 margin over Rogers, or 264,000 votes.
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Slotkin → win → Rogers
Squeezing even a couple more percentage points there in November could be enough for Rogers to win.
uncertain
Rogers → squeeze → November
His team is optimistic in part because in this year’s Democratic primary, U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens beat El-Sayed in the county.
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Stevens → beat → county
El-Sayed has faced resistance from some of Detroit’s older and more establishment-aligned Black Democrats, who favored Stevens’ longer-standing ties to Black churches and work on the Obama administration’s auto industry rescue plan.
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who → face → plan
Some local Black activists also faulted El-Sayed, who if elected would be the first Muslim senator, for supporting the “uncommitted” campaign in the 2024 Democratic presidential primary.
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who → fault → primary
Some Black Michigan Democrats believe the effort, aimed at pressuring the Biden administration over Gaza, cost then-Vice President Kamala Harris in her campaign as the first Black woman to be a major party presidential nominee.
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effort → believe → woman
Trump beat Harris by 1.4 percentage points in the state.
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Trump → beat → state
Harris plans to campaign with El-Sayed in Michigan on Tuesday, and the Congressional Black Caucus has endorsed El-Sayed.
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Caucus → plan → Sayed
Democratic leaders have dismissed Rogers’ efforts at inroads.
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leaders → dismiss → inroads
“I don’t think anyone’s buying it,” the state party chair, Curtis Hertel, said of Rogers’ efforts to court Black voters in Detroit.
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chair → think → Detroit
“I don’t think (Rogers) has a connection in those communities, I think he’s going to have a hard time.”
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he → think → time
Some Jewish Democrats are siding with Rogers
Rogers has also leaned into the defections by some Democratic Jewish voters, an influential group particularly in Oakland County, Michigan’s second most-populous county.
A day after the August primary, a prominent Democrat, Detroit-area business leader Brian Hermelin, called Schostak, Rogers’ campaign finance chairman, asking how he could help.
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he → side → Schostak
Within 10 days, Rogers was headlining a fundraiser hosted by the Hermelin family and attended by about 130 people, mostly Democrats, Schostak said.
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Schostak → headline → people
El-Sayed opposes U.S. military aid to Israel and has called the U.S. ally’s military campaign in Gaza a “genocide,” an accusation rejected by the Israeli and U.S. governments.
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Sayed → oppose → governments
The former public health official also has angered some Jewish Democrats with statements he made after the March attack on Temple Israel, Michigan’s largest Jewish congregation.
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he → anger → Israel
El-Sayed’s suggestion that “hurt people hurt people” was interpreted by some as justification for the attack.
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hurt → hurt → attack
El-Sayed later apologized for his response, but the remark helped push some influential Jewish Democrats toward Rogers.
Oakland County commercial real estate broker Benji Rosenzweig, who is Jewish and tends to vote for Democrats, plans to vote for the Republican.
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who → apologize → Republican
“As a Jew, my family doesn’t feel safe with Abdul El-Sayed,” Rosenzweig said.
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Rosenzweig → feel → Sayed
The seat is open because Democrat Gary Peters is not seeking reelection.
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Peters → seek → reelection
If Rogers wins, Republicans would retain their Senate majority even if Democrats pick up as many as four GOP-held seats in November.
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Democrats → win → November
Ad spending reflects the stakes.
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spending → reflect → stakes
More money has been spent in Michigan — almost $125 million since the Aug. 4 primary — than in any other state where Republicans have a chance at gaining a seat, according to the advertising-tracking firm AdImpact.
uncertain
Republicans → spend → firm
That is spending by El-Sayed, Rogers and allied groups.
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That → spend → Sayed
The race has jumped to the top of the Trump political team’s priority list.
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race → jump → list
No Going Back, a new entity linked to Trump’s MAGA Inc. super PAC, early this month spent $18.5 million to air ads and reserve advertising time in Michigan, the most the group has committed to any 2026 Senate race so far, according to AdImpact.
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group → go → AdImpact
The ads show the split-screen tack Rogers and his allies are taking in reaching out to atypical Republican voters while working to inspire the Trump base.
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Rogers → show → base
Rogers’ campaign organization is airing ads, many of them with him direct to camera, promoting him as the son of a middle-class family, a collaborator during his time in Congress and interested in bringing down costs, notably for healthcare.
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many → air → healthcare
The super PACs supporting his candidacy are swinging the hammer.
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PACs → support → hammer
…and 16 more, not listed.
The Aporia
