INTERVIEW: Rep. Mike Rogers announces Senate run: "Michigan can once again become the arsenal of democracy"
THE LOWDOWN:
Rep. Mike Rogers (R., Mich.) spoke with the Washington Reporter minutes after announcing his Senate campaign to finish what he started in 2024.
Rogers, who won more votes than any Republican statewide candidate in Michigan history last cycle, received quick endorsements from both Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) and Senator Tim Scott, (R. S.C.), the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC).
Rogers noted that the Michigan Democrats are “going to have a contentious primary” for the Senate seat after current Senator Gary Peters, a Democrat, announced he would not be seeking a third term.
President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance won Michigan in the 2024 election.
Minutes after former Rep. Mike Rogers (R., Mich.) announced his campaign for Senate, he spoke with the Washington Reporter about how he plans to finish what he started in 2024 and flip the state’s open seat for Republicans.
Rogers, who won more votes than any Republican statewide candidate in Michigan history last cycle, received quick endorsements from both Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) and Senator Tim Scott, (R. S.C.), the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), upon his announcement.
But Rogers told the Reporter that back at home “the grassroots’ reaction has been very, very positive, more so than we anticipated, honestly.
“And then the donor community across Michigan has been very, very positive,” Rogers said.
During the 2024 cycle, Rogers jumped in late — a marked contrast with this time around, where his early entry will allow him to build out his operation, such as establishing a finance committee.
“We're going to release our finance committee this week of about 30 people who are going to help us raise money for this,” “Rogers said.
Rogers noted that the Michigan Democrats are “going to have a contentious primary” for the Senate seat after current Senator Gary Peters, a Democrat, announced he would not be seeking a third term.
“And good for them,” Rogers said.
One invaluable asset from Rogers’s 2024 bid is that he can “start focusing on getting people to the polls who already voted for us.”
“I don't have to convince somebody who voted against me to get to the polls,” Rogers said. “And what that allows us to do is focus on them, and we're also going to go after independents and disaffected Democrats.”
Rogers noted that Michigan Democrats are “already out there talking about defending men in women's sports, they're out there saying, ‘gosh, don't do tariffs, because that would hurt us with making our pool toys more expensive from China.’”
“So they're already on China's side in this fight. I just don't think people are going to reward them for that,” he added.
The Michigan Republican said he believes that the issues next year will favor Republicans, especially in Michigan. Rogers noted that his state “lost 27,000 manufacturing jobs under Joe Biden and Governor Gretchen Whitmer in the last four years,” calling Michigan “the canary in the coal mine” as the middle-class watches “those jobs evaporate and go to places like China and the rest of the world.”
“How often do you get the [United Auto Workers Union (UAW)] president praising the President of the United States, who is a Republican, about taking on this problem that we've been talking about in Michigan for 30 years?” Rogers asked, adding that Michigan “can once again become the arsenal of democracy.”
Rogers also weighed in on Whitmer’s now-viral refusal to be photographed in the White House during a meeting with President Donald Trump, saying that “we hardly call that a profile in courage” and that “it says everything you need to know about why we've been so rudderless with our leader.”
In order to win, Rogers may need to win over thousands of voters who pulled the lever for third-party candidates in his race last time. The Reporter previously covered how Democrat-aligned groups spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in key races across America, including in Michigan, to convince Republican voters to vote for Libertarian candidates. In reality, Rogers said, “if you believe in the true libertarian philosophy … you have a lot more in common with me than you’re ever going to have with any Democrat who comes out of that primary.” Rogers said that his inability to convey that last time was a function of how little time he spent in the race.
Rogers already has an ambitious agenda he wants to enact, should he win next year.
“High-tech manufacturers need to come back, a. to the U.S., and then certainly, b. we need to be doing that in Michigan,” Rogers said. The Michigan Republican said that “we have a terrible literacy problem and a skilled trades problem [that are] starting to work against us in recruiting for the U.S. military and [that are] working against us in people being able to get jobs that they can use to support their families.”
“In black communities we need justice reform. We also need education reform, like we do across the state by the way, this isn't an urban problem. We’ve got to get our math scores up, our reading scores up. We can get criminal justice reform in those communities where I think people feel the system is working against them and we need to. There are some things I think we can do to turn that around and still get communities to be safe. We have eight communities across the state that are in the top 50 most violent cities in America. I'm going to work to get those off the list. Protecting our Great Lakes in Michigan is a huge, huge issue in my record. When I was in Congress, I was very protective of the Great Lakes, and I plan to continue to do that to make sure people don't get their straw in our water, as we used to say.”
Rogers’ latest Senate bid comes as the GOP’s opportunity to flip the Great Lake State’s open seat red hits a fever pitch.
With Peters’ retirement from the Senate, Republicans have a serious shot to take the seat. The 2024 presidential election saw Michigan go red in favor of President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance by tens of thousands of votes.
Michigan, a consistent swing state in American politics, has seen a Democratic lean over the past few years, but the Republicans’ advance has most assuredly moved the needle.
Below is a transcript of our interview with Rep. Mike Rogers, lightly edited for clarity.
Washington Reporter:
You've been an announced candidate for about two hours, and you've already rolled out endorsements from John Thune, the Senate GOP leader, and Tim Scott, the NRSC chairman. How the reception has been going in Michigan so far? What's the reaction been from the activists, from the delegation?
Rep. Mike Rogers:
We were poking around for the last few weeks to see if people were ready for this, for us to get back in given that we came so close, 0.3 percent, from winning. The grassroots’ reaction has been very, very positive, more so than we anticipated, honestly. So that part has been really, really good. And then the donor community across Michigan has been very, very positive. And then having the Leader jump in, and the chairman of the NRSC jump in on day one, ready to unify around a candidate to actually win the seat, is great. Couple of things happened last time, we got started a little late. We had a long primary. They spent, I don't know, $5 to $6 million in the four-way primary trying to beat us last go around. We ended up with 65 percent but that was in August and we had to rebuild our coffers. 70 percent of our money came in after August, and that's why we got outspent on TV in September, and we think that hurt us. So we looked at this and say, ‘nope, not doing that again. We're getting in early.’ We're coalescing grassroots. We're coalescing every faction of the Republican Party, and we've been overwhelmed by the positive response we're getting.
Washington Reporter:
What do you think about the Democrats’ side? Is there someone that you're particularly eager to face?
Rep. Mike Rogers:
Well, they're gonna have a contentious primary, and good for them. And that allows us to focus on what's important. And here's what's interesting. We had the most votes for Republicans of any Michigan statewide candidate in the history of Michigan, that's unbelievable. It was 2.693 million, I think. When you look at that, what that tells us is we get to early on start focusing on getting people to the polls who already voted for us. I don't have to convince somebody who voted against me to get to the polls. And what that allows us to do is focus on them, and we're also going to go after independents and disaffected Democrats. And there are a lot of disaffected Democrats across the state of Michigan and that extra space gives us a huge opportunity to get that done. And so that's what's so beneficial about having all of this great support up front. We're going to release our finance committee this week of about 30 people who are going to help us raise money for this. We didn't have a finance committee last time. There were things that we knew we could do, but because of a long primary, we didn't have the option to do. All of that's changed. The Democrats don't even matter to us. They're already out there talking about defending men in women's sports, they're out there saying, ‘gosh, don't do tariffs, because that would hurt us with making our pool toys more expensive from China.’ So they're already on China's side in this fight. I just don't think people are going to reward them for that.
Washington Reporter:
In the 2024 election, the Libertarian and Constitution Party candidates got almost 2 percent of the vote, and Slotkin won with less than 50 percent of the vote. How do you want to minimize the attrition that libertarians tend to inflict upon Republicans this time around?
Rep. Mike Rogers:
If you believe in the true libertarian philosophy, you need to make a very serious decision going into this, because that vote directly contributed to Elissa Slotkin becoming a senator from the state of Michigan with 48 percent of the vote. Think of that. She didn't have a majority of Michiganders with her, and so we're going to talk to them and talk to them a lot. They have a lot more in common with me than they're ever going to have with any Democrat who comes out of that primary. I mean, not even close. What we didn't have a chance to do last time is get in front of and talk to some of these folks in a way where they understand where I'm at and where I'm coming from. A lot of misinformation was flying around there, as you know, and by the way, the Democrats were putting money and going after libertarian voters to turn them out. And so if you think about what their game plan was, the Libertarians played right along with it. And so what we're trying to do is get them to understand, A, the stakes of the game, and B, I am lot closer to your position than you're ever going to get with any Democrat, and let us get back there to get good things done while we have the chance with Donald Trump as president.
Washington Reporter:
You've kind of touched on this with both the timing of your run and with the finance committee. But what do you wish that you had known last time?
Rep. Mike Rogers
Part of our problem was getting started late. And our ground game got started a little late. Now we think we had one of the best ground games in the country, we hit 750,000 doors, 4 million voter contacts, as just our campaign. We're starting that much earlier, number one. Another was that we were badly outspent on TV in September. The Democrats just poured money into the state of Michigan, they bring tractor trailers of it and dump it on their lawn. I've never seen anything like it, and we knew we were going to have to fight that earlier. So getting in earlier combats that, minimizing a serious primary challenge helps with that, rallying people early really helps with that. And so because we've gotten in early, that's what we can can do differently. I guarantee we won't be able to match them dollar for dollar. They use ActBlue, which, even with the reports of foreign money flying through that thing, they still take it as fast as they can collect it. We're going to get beat probably in the big number, but we can outwork them with ground game and stay on par so that we're not so wildly outspent in September going into the election, which is huge. Here's another advantage: any Democrat has to go out and introduce themselves to voters. I don't have to do that, and because of the drop off in midterm elections, I don't have to convince Democrats to vote for me. I have to convince Republicans to show up. That's a huge difference, and I think that’s a huge advantage for us.
Washington Reporter:
Do you think the issues are the same that you're going to be using to appeal to voters this time as last cycle? Or how are you calibrating differently running in a midterm with a Republican president, as opposed to a presidential year with an open White House?
Rep. Mike Rogers:
Obviously, it's really hard to tell what will be the top of mind of a voter into next year's election, but what we do know is the same reasons that they voted for Donald Trump and so many people voted for Mike Rogers was that the economy was not great. We lost 27,000 manufacturing jobs under Joe Biden and Governor Gretchen Whitmer in the last four years. 27,000 jobs; you want to talk about eroding the middle class? We are the canary in the coal mine here in Michigan, watching those jobs evaporate and go to places like China and the rest of the world. And so I think this is still really, really important. How often do you get the UAW President praising the President of the United States, who is a Republican, about taking on this problem that we've been talking about in Michigan for 30 years? I do think that those issues will resonate and resonate well, and we can build on those issues going in. I think Michigan can once again become the arsenal of democracy. If we're going to build an Iron Dome to protect the country, we ought to build it here. We should be building every variation of car here in the great state of Michigan. We're going to change all that parity. All we want is the opportunity to compete, and we're going to do that. I think all of those will be good sellers. And the tax cuts are huge, huge, huge. And by the way, the Democrats are likely to put biological males in women's sports. They still fight for this. That is so out of touch with the average Michigander. So all of those issues are going to continue to be important. And then I believe that the president will get a tax cut, will get deregulation, will get an increase in energy production, and it’s going to take a few years but we will get our military back in shape. All of that will be on top of mind next year, and that's good for us.
Washington Reporter:
You mentioned Whitmer. I'd be remiss if I didn't ask if you had any thoughts on her photo-op in the Oval Office with her covering her face with the binder.
Rep. Mike Rogers:
We hardly call that a profile in courage. And it says everything you need to know about why we we've been so rudderless with our leader.
Washington Reporter:
You just mentioned everything from tax cuts to deregulation. Where do you see other areas where in January 2027, you want to start working with the Trump White House for the final two years?
Rep. Mike Rogers:
Well, certainly high tech manufacturers needs to come back, A, to the U.S., and then certainly B, we need to be doing that in Michigan. We have a terrible literacy problem and a skilled trades problem. I don't want to equate the two. It is starting to work against us in recruiting for the U.S. military and it is working against us in people being able to get jobs that they can use to support their families. I really want to focus on making sure that we get that turned around. In black communities, we need justice reform. We also need education reform, like we do across the state by the way, this isn't an urban problem. We’ve got to get our math scores are up, our reading scores up. We can get criminal justice reform in those communities where I think people feel the system is working against them and we need to. There are some things I think we can do to turn that around and still get communities to be safe. We have eight communities across the state that are in the top 50 most violent cities in America. I'm going to work to get those off the list. Protecting our Great Lakes in Michigan is a huge, huge issue in my record. When I was in Congress, I was very protective of the Great Lakes, and I plan to continue to do that to make sure people don't get their straw in our water, as we used to say.
Washington Reporter:
You chaired the House Intel Committee for years; what do you think is think is a top threat to America that we are not focusing enough on, that we're not even thinking about enough?
Rep. Mike Rogers:
In the last 10 years, I’ve been in cyberspace trying to get small companies to be medium sized companies and to do well to protect people's private data and protect their money from cyber criminals, and also to push back on China, Russia, and Iran, as they're starting to ramp up their cyber capabilities. With China coming out saying that they had gone after our electric grid, our critical infrastructure, that's huge. That didn't get a lot of play. They are getting better and getting more aggressive in cyberspace. I argue we're in a shooting war in cyberspace. Most people just don't know it, and so I think that's one of the biggest threats we're going to have to get our arms around. Additionally, we’re seeing a more bellicose China, they are already rattling sabers over Taiwan louder when they think they have the United States over a barrel. People just aren't thinking through this problem; in the long run, China is a big threat, and we have to do something about it. I look at both economically and militarily in the case of China. Cyber-wise, we’ve got work to do to make our business networks, our personal networks, safer. And you see that, listen, China and Russia and Iran look at it and say, ‘hey, I don't have to buy aircraft carrier. I can hire 1,000 cyber warriors and go after them and maybe do as much damage,’ and the dangerous thing is, they might just be right. So we've got to do a lot better on protecting our networks here across America.
Washington Reporter:
I wrote last time on Fairshake, the crypto PAC that spent heavily against you, despite your very pro-crypto record. How do you fit that industry in with what you were talking about with cyber security?
Rep. Mike Rogers:
Well, listen, I still believe that crypto is going to have a place. I thought that was a horrific decision. My opponent had an F rating on crypto, that just tells you how screwed up politics in Washington, D.C. is. And apparently they spent up to $6 million against me. Listen, they need to be for us any way. We're pro-crypto naturally. Their money isn't going to make me decide if I'm against it or if I’m for it. I'm already there. I think it has a use and a practice. We just have to make sure consumers are protected in that. The most important thing coming out of crypto, in my mind, is blockchain because it allows us to have so much protection on so many other things, including crypto. Allowing people to pursue that technology is going to be good for us. It'll make it harder for people to steal your bank transactions and other things over time. And so all of that stuff is going to be really helpful to put into practice and make sure that the regulation that comes out of D.C. is not hampering this.
Washington Reporter:
Trump is currently embarking on both the maximum pressure campaign against Iran and some of his administration officials are currently conducting negotiations with them. This is something you worked on a lot in Congress. Do you think that Iran's nuclear reactor should be completely dismantled? This is something we've seen some in Congress talk about. Is there such a thing as an acceptable Iran deal? What do you look at with the threat coming from that region of the world?
Rep. Mike Rogers:
We lost so much momentum on the maximum pressure on Iran when Biden got elected, and it wasn’t like losing one year for one year because of the nature of the development of a nuclear program from the actual device, the nuclear device at the top of the missile, the missile, the trajectory, all of those things add up to a missile program that is dangerous and threatening to both Israel and to the rest of the world. That's what worries me. I used to be privy to all of that. Obviously, I haven't been read in on how close they really are to breaking out for a nuclear weapon recently. Everything I read publicly does not give me a good feeling about where they are, meaning they're a lot closer than we would all like them to be. That's a destabilizing effect across the Middle East. Our Saudi partners know that; our Arab League partners know that; Israel clearly knows that, and China has not been our friend in helping them develop their capabilities. And certainly Russia buying equipment from them is also a terrible indicator as well. So I do worry about this a lot. There are means short of military action that should be able to disrupt and keep them from getting those weapons, which I would encourage the United States to continue, and then just continue to ramp up on the sanctions; they were working. And make sure that that maximum pressure campaign comes together with negotiation. I don't mind that they're negotiating. I just don't want them to give anything away up front. I think we have leverage there. We should continue to use it, continue to push back. If we do this right, you get a nuclear-free Iran that is beginning to come back to be world. When it comes to violence across the globe, they're the number one sponsor of terrorism around the world. That cannot stand. We cannot let that happen, and so if we can get a deal that slows all of that down and puts them on a path that is not in conflict, that's a win.
Washington Reporter:
It sounds like the flip side of what you're saying is, be prepared to walk away if you get a sense that this is a stalling tactic. Is that correct?
Rep. Mike Rogers:
Yes, you gotta continue the pressure on Iran.
Washington Reporter:
You overlapped with several of Trump's top national security people; Marco Rubio was in the Senate while you were in the House, and Tulsi Gabbard and you overlapped for one term in Congress. How do you rate the Trump national security team's work thus far on everything from Iran to Syria to Yemen to China to Venezuela?
Rep. Mike Rogers:
I think they're doing well. When they told the Houthis you cannot shoot at one American vessel, and they clearly demonstrated, if you do that, this is what will happen. I think that was very important message to send. I know there were a lot of people who said, ‘oh, that's banging the warm drum.’ I don't see it that way at all. You cannot allow American commerce to be attacked and sailors targeted and not let the bad guys know that that won't be tolerated. I thought that was good. What they're doing with economics, trying to coordinate on both ends of the Panama Canal is really, really smart. And continuing pressure on Iran is important. I do think we're going to have to negotiate our way out of Ukraine. There is no way in world that Europe is going to send troops in. And I don't advocate for that. No one wants a shooting war with Russia, that's a terrible idea. I think they're on the right track for that. It's going to be hard and bumpy. And yes, you should never trust Vladimir Putin in any negotiation, but that doesn’t meant that you don't sit down and try to get something more hammered out to get peace. They’re killing 2,000 people a week. Think about it. A little over that, and that was our entire loss in Iraq and Afghanistan, and they're killing that in a week.
Washington Reporter:
It is currently the Jewish holiday of Passover. I'm a Jew. There are a lot of Jews in Michigan, and it's definitely not lost on Jews in America and around the world that there are 59 hostages, including Americans, still held hostage in Gaza. What's your view on how Israel should be handling all of this?
Rep. Mike Rogers:
I think you have to give Netanyahu the rope to do what he needs to do, and we ought to help him. You cannot have an organization that literally walked across the border, snatched people from their houses, killed children and women mercilessly, dragged them back and threw them in tunnels for a year and then said it's your fault. It's just mind boggling to me. They're a terrorist organization. They need to be treated like a terrorist organization. Hamas cannot be in charge of Gaza when this is over. If they disarm and Israel says, I think we can live with that, then that's the right plan. If Israel says, ‘listen, these guys are still dangerous,’ we have to treat them like they're still dangerous. And I think that's another good thing that happened with the Trump administration; they just went in and said, we support you doing what you have to do. Whereas the Biden administration said ‘we’re pro-Israel, but you can't do these five things.’ That doesn't work when those are your citizens being held. And by the way, we should still be outraged because there are Americans still unaccounted for. We've seen how these people get treated. They're not giving back people anymore. They're giving back dead bodies and that's just unconscionable, and we can't allow it to continue on.
Washington Reporter:
We will allow your campaign to continue on. Thanks for your time, Congressman Rogers.
