bigrus

Michigan U.S. Senate candidates Rogers and Slotkin locked in tight race

Harry November 6, 2024

Republican former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers of White Lake and Democratic U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Holly are locked in a tight race for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat.

With an estimated 97.8% of the votes counted shortly before 9:30 a.m., Rogers and Slotkin each received 48% of the vote, according to unofficial results compiled by The Associated Press. come back freep.com for updated results.

The race between Slotkin, a three-term congressman, the former deputy secretary of Defense and the former intelligence official; Rogers, a former FBI agent and Army officer who served as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee before resigning in 2015 after serving seven two-year terms, was seen as a national trailblazer showing how successful Republicans could be in this year’s elections.

Michigan hasn’t elected a Republican U.S. senator since Spencer Abraham won a single six-year term as president in 1994. And no Republican was elected to office in the state in a presidential year going back to the 1970s.

But the GOP believed it had a good chance this year; Democratic President Joe Biden has been facing low positive ratings due at least in part to a surge in illegal immigration along the southern border and high inflation in recent months. decreased slightly. At the same time, former Republican President Donald Trump, who is running for re-election, has placed a particular emphasis on winning Michigan, as he did in 2016, and the belief that this could galvanize Rogers, a former Trump critic who has since joined the party was also available. supported him and won his support.

But in Slotkin, Democrats also settled on a candidate known for his tenacity on the campaign trail and his ability to run ahead of his party’s goal. She is also known as an outstanding fundraiser and was viewed throughout the election as the likely favorite to win the seat vacated by Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow after four six-year terms.

In the latest Free Press poll, Slotkin had a 47%-42% lead over RogersThat was just outside the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. But some other polls had the race closer than that.

Slotkin spent nearly $44 million of his own campaign fund on the race, according to Open Secrets, a website that tracks political spending; Rogers spent $8.6 million. But given that the race could help determine which party controls the majority in the Senate and how big that majority will be. A staggering amount of independent spending poured into the race in the name of the election, That included more than $78 million from conservative groups that oppose Slotkin and support Rogers. Nearly $63 million more favors Slotkin and targets Rogers for defeat.

The race largely revolved around Rogers’ attempts to characterize Slotkin as an ally of the Biden administration and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, saying Slotkin did nothing while both consumer prices and illegal immigration rose. He also labeled her as a supporter of what Republicans call an electric vehicle mandate that would force automakers to produce electric-powered cars and trucks and consumers to buy them, too.

Although stronger emissions rules mean automakers will have to sell many more EVs by 2032 or face stiff penalties unless those rules are changed, there are no mandates; however, Detroit automakers were part of drafting these standards. Slotkin, who has presented himself as a moderate and bipartisan consensus builder throughout his political career, said he does not support any rules that would force anyone to make or buy electric vehicles, but he does support standards that would advance EV technology. so they can be built in the USA

Slotkin, meanwhile, countered that Rogers lived out of state most of the time after leaving office, returning only to run for a Senate seat, and that he should not be trusted with abortion rights. Rogers, like other Republicans, has vowed not to vote for any national ban or other restriction that would run afoul of abortion protections now included in the state constitution. But Slotkin rightly points out that Rogers was a staunch opponent of abortion throughout his political career. He also criticized her for being too cozy with corporations, defending the pharmaceutical industry against price controls, and voting against health care reforms like the Affordable Care Act.

Contact Todd Spangler: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler