$30M Poured Into Michigan Senate Race to Boost GOP Candidate Mike Rogers

With just five weeks until Election Day, Republican political action committees are making a massive push in Michigan’s highly competitive Senate race, dumping $30 million to boost GOP candidate Mike Rogers. The former congressman is locked in a close battle with Democrat Rep. Elissa Slotkin for Michigan’s open Senate seat—a critical race that could help decide control of the Senate in 2024.

Rogers, who has been trailing Slotkin by a slim margin in most polls, received a major boost from the Great Lakes Conservative Fund, a super PAC that has poured $8 million into statewide ads supporting his campaign, according to Axios. This is part of a broader effort to swing Michigan’s Senate seat back to the GOP after over two decades of Democratic control.

The Senate Leadership Fund, aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, also made its first move in the Michigan race, committing $22.5 million to help Rogers over the finish line. With Democrats having already spent $22 million in the state this year, the infusion of cash signals that Republicans see a major opportunity to flip the seat.

Michigan’s Senate seat has been held by Democrats since 2001, but that could change after longtime Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow announced her retirement last year. The race between Rogers and Slotkin has been listed as a "toss-up" by Cook Political Report since July, putting it among the most competitive Senate races in the country, alongside Ohio and West Virginia.

Slotkin has been raising the alarm, warning donors about Vice President Kamala Harris’ sinking favorability in states like Michigan. Slotkin recently admitted in a call with donors that Harris is "underwater" in internal polling, a sign that the Democratic ticket could be struggling to connect with voters.

As the race tightens, internal GOP polling shows Rogers and Slotkin in a statistical tie. Rogers, who has been crisscrossing the state, has focused his campaign on economic issues, a priority for many Michigan voters. In an interview with The Daily Wire last month, Rogers said that the economy is front-and-center, with many Michiganders living paycheck-to-paycheck and feeling the squeeze of inflation.

“So many people are literally living paycheck-to-paycheck,” Rogers explained. “That is always front-and-center.”

Michigan is shaping up to be one of the most pivotal battlegrounds in the upcoming election. Republicans are already expected to win seats in West Virginia and Montana, but Michigan and Ohio are crucial swing states that could determine whether the GOP takes control of the Senate.

The stakes are high, and with tens of millions now being spent on both sides, the final outcome is likely to come down to voter turnout and the campaigns’ ability to sway undecided voters in these final weeks. Rogers’ push to appeal to people of faith and middle-class voters hit hard by economic woes could be key to flipping this seat red.

Stay tuned for more updates on this critical race and other 2024 election developments by subscribing to our newsletter.