Former Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., launched another campaign for the Senate on Monday, becoming the first major Republican candidate to jump into one of the most competitive races of the 2026 midterm elections.
The Michigan race is expected to be key to the battle for the Senate, with Republicans looking to grow their majority. With Sen. Gary Peters retiring, Democrats will be defending an open Senate seat.
Rogers is running again after he lost to Democrat Elissa Slotkin last year. Slotkin defeated Rogers by less than half a percentage point even as Donald Trump won the state by 1 point.
The Rogers campaign invoked Trump in a news release announcing his run, saying Rogers “will be an ally for President Trump and champion for Michigan,” but it is not clear yet whether he will have Trump’s endorsement. Rogers earned Trump’s endorsement in a crowded primary last year around six months after he launched his campaign.
And he might face a contested primary again.
Tudor Dixon, the party’s 2022 nominee for governor, has been weighing campaigns for governor or the Senate. GOP Rep. Bill Huizenga also told Fox News over the weekend that he is considering running.
The Democratic primary is also expected to be hotly contested.
State Sen. Mallory McMorrow launched her campaign last week, becoming the first major Democratic candidate in the race. Rep. Haley Stevens is considering a Senate run. And Abdul El-Sayed, who stepped down as the Wayne County health director last week, is weighing a run and told the Detroit Free Press that he would decide “within the next couple of weeks.”
Rogers was first elected to the House in 2000 after having served in the state Senate. A former FBI agent, Rogers was chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and did not run for re-election last year.
