Former Representative Mike Rogers announced Monday another Michigan Senate bid after losing an open seat to Senator Elissa Slotkin in November.
Rogers is the first Republican to jump into the race to fill the seat of Democratic incumbent Gary Peters, who announced in January that he will not run for another term.
“As your next senator, I won’t just represent Michigan, I’ll fight for it,” Rogers said in a launch video touting his record of service and support for President Donald Trump.
Running on an “America and Michigan first” platform, Rogers voiced support for investing in skilled labor, cutting wasteful government spending, lowering gas and grocery prices, working with Trump to bring manufacturing jobs to Michigan, and keeping Social Security as it is.
“For me, it will always be America and Michigan first. Rewarding hard work and investing in the skilled trades, cutting wasteful spending, lowering the cost of gas, groceries, and prescription drugs,” Rogers said.
Rogers is a former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, a former FBI Agent, and a veteran of the U.S. Army. He served Michigan’s eighth district for seven terms from 2001-2015 and was interviewed to be FBI director after Trump fired James Comey in 2017.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) and National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Tim Scott (R., S.C.) immediately endorsed Rogers’s Senate bid, shoring up his status as the favorite to win the Republican primary.
“Mike Rogers is the proven conservative leader that Michigan needs in the U.S. Senate. He will help us deliver on President Trump’s America First agenda and work to bring manufacturing & good-paying jobs back to Michigan,” Thune said in a statement posted on X.
Trump won Michigan in November with 49.7 percent of the vote over former Vice President Kamala Harris’s 48.3 percent. At the same time, Slotkin defeated Rogers 48.6 percent to 48.3 percent in an extremely narrow victory.
Slotkin was one of several Democratic Senators to win toss-up seats in states Trump won on his way to a resounding victory over Harris. Trump also helped Republicans reclaim the Senate majority and narrowly hold onto the House, giving them both chambers of Congress and the presidency.
“Mike will always put Michigan first, fight for the needs of working families, and stand up to communist China. Michigan is a battleground state, and with @MikeRogersForMI as our candidate, I know we will add this seat to President Trump’s Senate Majority in 2026,” Scott said.
Trump and the NRSC similarly backed Rogers last cycle, helping him with the Republican primary with more than 60 percent of the vote.
Election forecasters expect the race to replace Senator Peters to be one of the most competitive nationwide this midterm cycle. Progressive state Senator Mallory McMorrow has already entered the Democratic primary and Representative Haley Stevens is likely to join the race in the coming days.