EXCLUSIVE - DETROIT, MI - Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers has a message for Democrats who are far from happy with their party's nominee in battleground Michigan: "You have a home with us."
Rogers, a former congressman and former FBI agent who is running a second straight time for the Senate after losing by a slim margin two years ago, on Thursday stood alongside a group of voters as he unveiled his "Democrats for Mike Rogers" coalition during a campaign event at a residence in a western Detroit neighborhood.
After a combustible and divisive Democratic Senate primary, where Abdul El-Sayed narrowly edged more moderate Rep. Haley Stevens for the nomination, Rogers is heavily courting Democrats disaffected with their left-wing nominee, as he works to flip a crucial Democrat-held Senate seat in the midterm elections.
"To Democrat voters who feel their nominee doesn't represent them and their values, all hope is not lost. I'm not asking you to be a Republican. I'm asking you for the opportunity to earn your trust. .. our door is open," Rogers said as he referred to Democratic voters uncomfortable with some of El-Sayed's controversial past comments and far-left policy positions.
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A new public opinion survey from AARP indicated El-Sayed and Rogers locked in a margin-of-error race. And in a Fox News poll conducted Aug. 6-10 and released last week, Rogers held a slight four-point edge.
Rogers’ advantage in the Fox News poll was fueled largely by stronger party unity among Republicans. Nearly all Republicans (96%), including both MAGA (99%) and non-MAGA Republicans (89%), backed Rogers, the poll indicates.
El-Sayed's support among Democrats was slightly lower, at 91%. While 98% of self-described Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) supporters backed El-Sayed, that number dropped to 69% of non-DSA Democrats and independents.
"We definitely think it's an opening. This is going to be a tight race. It’s Michigan," Rogers said in an exclusive Fox News Digital interview following the campaign event. "We're going to take advantage of the fact that people are pausing to think if he [El-Sayed] represents their values."
Rogers highlighted that Democrats "who have never voted for a Republican in their life, they're going to vote for me. We take encouragement in that. It's inspiring. It's going to show that…values do matter in this election, and we're going to be talking to a lot of people that would not normally have…an opening with a Republican."
One of those Democrats who stood alongside Rogers identified herself as Chelsea from West Bloomfield, Michigan.
"I'm a lifelong Democrat. I voted for Obama. I voted for Hillary. I voted for Biden. I voted for Slotkin. I heavily supported Haley Stevens throughout her race and now I'm voting for Mike Rogers because sometimes the election calls for us to look at something bigger than our party lines," Chelsea explained.
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Pointing to El-Sayed, she emphasized "the Democratic nominee that we've been given does not share my values and he does not agree with a world that I want my children to grow up in."
Responding to the event, the El-Sayed campaign highlighted Rogers' ties to President Donald Trump, who is supporting the GOP nominee.
"Mike Rogers will put Donald Trump ahead of Michigan every single time. Just like he carried water for Trump’s dangerous election lies, he’ll rubber-stamp Trump’s reckless agenda—driving up gas prices and sending your tax dollars to fight foreign wars," El-Sayed campaign spokesperson Cole Wozniak charged in a statement to Fox News.
Wozniak added, "Abdul's the only candidate with a coalition that can win this November and will get right to work in the US Senate getting money out of politics and putting money in your pockets."
A former Wayne County Health Department director, El-Sayed, if elected in November, would make history as the nation's first Muslim senator. He is an epidemiologist who unsuccessfully ran for governor as an insurgent candidate in 2018. He has made support for Medicare for all a major component of his campaign.
El-Sayed, who was endorsed and joined on the primary campaign trail by progressive champions Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, has also called for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and is a vocal critic of Israel during its war with Hamas —characterizing Israel's actions in Gaza as "genocide" against Palestinians.
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Rabbi Asher Lopatin of Huntington Woods, Michigan, who also joined Rogers at the campaign roll out, told Fox News Digital, "I do have a lot of issues with a lot of policies of the Trump administration. I do have concerns about the Supreme Court. But it's more important to make a statement that we cannot let someone like Abdul El-Sayed get into the Senate."
Lopatin said that Jewish voters who "normally vote Democrat are going to vote for Mike Rogers, and I'm hearing that. And there's a growing movement like that. And I think the more they meet him...the more they're going to feel comfortable voting for a Republican, sometimes the first time in their lives."
The rabbi also pointed to a state Democratic Party convention in April, where there was hostility towards anyone who openly supported Israel. Stevens, a strong Israel supporter, was booed at the convention.
"Many people I talked to, many super progressive people, are really traumatized by the way they were treated, and the way Haley Stevens was booed, and the way other candidates were treated. It's a violent, uncivil kind of setup for politics, and that's the biggest danger: taking away civility from politics," Lopatin said.
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Asked about concerns from Jewish voters, Rogers told Fox News Digital, "I've talked to two young women who were at University of Michigan, who were afraid to walk to class. They couldn't display their Star of David. To say that they're afraid is probably an understatement."
He said "the violent rhetoric [is] going to make a difference" in the general election.
El-Sayed's sharp criticism towards Israel and AIPAC, a powerful Israel-aligned political group that has long been a major player in American elections, were a central part of his primary campaign.
But two weeks ago, after winning the nomination, El-Sayed emphasized, "My commitment to Jewish safety is the same as my commitment to the safety of my own kids. We have a responsibility to take on antisemitism in all of its forms, wherever we see it."
