Democrat Elissa Slotkin and Republican Mike Rogers were victorious Tuesday evening in their respective primary contests for the open U.S. Senate seat in Michigan, setting up a general election showdown this fall that’s expected to be one of the most competitive races nationally.<\/p>\n
Slotkin, the three-term congresswoman from Holly, was ahead of actor and author Hill Harper of Detroit 80.1% to 19.9% with 50% of the vote counted in the Democratic primary election, according to unofficial results.<\/p>\n
Rogers, the former chair of the House intelligence committee, also held a wide lead with 62.8% in the GOP primary, with 58% of votes counted. Rogers is supported by former President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
More: <\/strong>2024 Michigan Republican Primary Elections Results<\/a> <\/p>\n Former U.S. Rep. Justin Amash of Cascade Township had 16.1%, and Grosse Pointe Park businessman Sandy Pensler was pulling 8.7%. Pensler remained on Tuesday’s ballot, though he publicly dropped out of the race<\/a> more than two weeks ago and endorsed Rogers. Stevensville physician Sherry O’Donnell was at 12.5% of the vote in the GOP contest.<\/p>\n Rogers addressed a crowd of his supporters at Old Detroit Bar and Grille in Lake Orion minutes after the Associated Press declared he had won the GOP primary. Rogers said his opponents fought a good race but it was time for them to \u201cstand united for November.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis election is the most consequential election, I think, in my lifetime,” Rogers said. “We are going to change things for the better and get Michigan back on track, or we\u2019re going to let the Democrats take us to a place where no wants to live.\u201d <\/p>\n Slotkin and Rogers will face off in November for the seat long held by retiring U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Lansing Democrat who opted against seeking another six-year term.<\/p>\n At her election night party at a hotel in Detroit’s New Center, Slotkin promised to be a \u201cprincipled leader\u201d who would unite a divisive political environment.<\/p>\n \u201cTo everyone out there across our state who is tired of division and chaos,\u201d Slotkin said, \u201clet me earn your vote. For everyone who believes our country is better than our current politics, I ask you to give me a shot. My message is simple: Join us on Team Normal. \u2026 The entire course of the U.S. Senate is dependent on what we do in this seat. It’s counting on us.\u201d<\/p>\n Slotkin then contrasted herself with Rogers, resulting in boos from the audience, to which she replied: \u201cNo, no. We don\u2019t boo. We win.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cToday we have Republican candidates that are largely uninterested in actually governing instead of getting things done,\u201d Slotkin said. \u201cThey would rather wage culture wars in every part of our lives rather than helping people, which is the very mission of public service.\u201d<\/p>\n Dan Kanter, 65, of Grosse Pointe Park said he “proudly” voted for Slotkin on Tuesday, citing her background in government and “the way she thinks.”<\/p>\n “I love the way that she articulates reasoned arguments for various policy issues. I know that she legitimately cares about her constituents,” said Kanter, a self-employed insurance agent. “I think she’d represent our state damn well.”<\/p>\n Kanter found Harper to be “an impressive fellow” and that he admired that he’d “taken a swing” at the Senate opening. “But I just don’t think this is the right office for him,” he added.<\/p>\n Rogers told reporters Tuesday night that his campaign’s polling showed Slotkin up by 2 percentage points as the three-month general election sprint begins.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce people get to know who we are, how we govern and, by the way, what we accomplished when we were there and what our solutions are, we\u2019re going to make up that ground,\u201d Rogers said.<\/p>\n Democrats and their allies are preparing to spend millions of dollars to retain Stabenow’s seat and their narrow Senate majority, while Republicans view Michigan as one of the few open Democrat-held seats that they have a shot at flipping, aside from West Virginia.<\/p>\n Sen. Gary Peters, who chairs the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, reaffirmed Tuesday that Michigan’s Senate race is a top priority for the party to defend, along with other seats held by Democratic incumbents.<\/p>\n “We’re not going to lose Michigan on my watch,” said Peters of Bloomfield Township. “We’re going to do whatever it takes to make sure that we win.”<\/p>\n More: <\/strong>Here are all the 2024 Michigan primary election results<\/a> <\/p>\n Montana Sen. Steve Daines, chair of the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, is likewise bullish on Rogers’ ability to win, though the GOP has not won a Michigan U.S. Senate race since 1994. His committee strived to get behind candidates early this cycle who could not only win a GOP primary but also in the general election, he said.<\/p>\n “We’ve been intentional in getting behind candidates early, and then we got President Trump, as well, behind the same candidates,” Daines said. “And so far in this election cycle, there’s been $250 million less spent in Republican primaries versus last cycle.”<\/p>\n Republicans didn’t entirely clear the field, however. Before Pensler dropped out and endorsed Rogers last month, he spent nearly $3.4 million on negative ads largely attacking Rogers over his role in investigating the 2012 Benghazi terror attack a decade ago.<\/p>\n Those ads made an impression on GOP voter Pat Deck, 77, of Grosse Pointe Park, who cast her ballot Tuesday for Pensler, not knowing that he’d left the race, she said.<\/p>\n “He raised some issues about Mike Rogers that I thought were relevant, and that’s why I voted for Sandy,” Deck said. “Benghazi was the big issue.”<\/p>\n Other Republican leaders had generally coalesced around Rogers, a former FBI agent and seven-term congressman who was given a speaking slot last month at the Republican National Convention<\/a>. He pitched himself as the candidate who, because of his experience and relationships, can be effective on Day One in the Senate to help Michigan families and their household budgets.<\/p>\n “We spent a lot of time going around the state trying to stitch up the Republican Party. It’s not that we didn’t have some challenges there \u2015 we did. But you saw over the last few weeks things are coming together,” Rogers said late Monday, referring to Pensler’s endorsement.<\/p>\n “My goal was get everybody in the same boat, rowing in the same direction. In our party, we are fiercely independent, and so sometimes gathering them together in the same mission was a little difficult. But we think we’ve gotten there, and I think we’re gonna see that tomorrow.”<\/p>\n In attendance at Rogers’ election night party was former state Rep. Bradford Jacobsen, who said Rogers was a great candidate for Republicans in the upcoming general election because he’s been all over Michigan in the past and has experience in the military and FBI.<\/p>\n “He’s got the whole package all put together,” Jacobsen said of Rogers.<\/p>\n Mark Olstyn, a retired automotive project engineer from Grosse Pointe Park, said he cast his ballot for Rogers because of his experience in Congress and because “he’s a Trump guy.” His top issues are fixing the Southern border, the economy and crime, and he’s hoping a Rogers win in Michigan this fall would help Republicans solidify a Senate majority.<\/p>\n “Get rid of the godless, amoral Sodom-and-Gomorrah scumbag Democrats,” said Olstyn, referring to sinful cities in the book of Genesis that were destroyed because of their wickedness. “Obviously, we’re Republicans. That’s all there is to it.”<\/p>\n More: <\/strong>Republican rivals attack Rogers as Senate favorite and allies counter criticism<\/a> <\/p>\n On the campaign trail, Rogers talked about \u201cmom-in-omics\u201d \u2015 moms grappling with the cost of groceries and gas \u2015 the Southern border being overrun, boys \u201ctearing apart\u201d girls sports<\/a> and electric vehicle \u201cmandates\u201d harming the auto industry. <\/p>\n The libertarian-minded Amash<\/a> spent the last days of his campaign lambasting Rogers\u2019 past defense of government surveillance programs, hoping that distrust in the deep state would prompt voters to reject the former intelligence chairman. <\/p>\n While in Congress, Amash earned a reputation as a libertarian maverick who clashed with leadership and bucked the party line on everything from the Pentagon budget to House rules. In the Senate, Amash wanted to reform the \u201coligarchical\u201d system where a few people at the top of government make most of the decisions.<\/p>\n “Thank you to my family and friends, to everyone who cast a vote for me, and to all our volunteers, donors, and supporters,” Amash tweeted Tuesday night after the polls closed. “You were incredible. You were inspiring. You made a difference.”<\/p>\n The son of a Palestinian refugee and Syrian immigrant, Amash has pursued the Arab American and Chaldean (Iraqi Catholic) vote in Metro Detroit.<\/p>\n On the Democratic side, Slotkin made a final campaign swing through west Michigan over the weekend, with stops in Grand Rapids, Muskegon and the Coast Guard parade in Grand Haven.<\/p>\n She had framed her primary against Harper as a “competition between rhetoric and substance<\/a>,” stressing her record from five and a half years in the U.S. House, where she serves on the Armed Services and Veterans Affairs’ committees. She wants to bring to the Senate strategic thinking and planning skills from her career at the Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency, and apply them to priorities like protecting democracy and rights.<\/p>\n On the Senate campaign trail, she stressed kitchen table issues like child care, housing and prescription drug costs and her work on gun violence prevention<\/a>. She also wants to codify protections for reproductive rights, saying Democrats need a five- or 10-year plan to get back to a federal right to abortion. <\/p>\n “I ran three tough elections, and I think I have the receipts for proving myself as someone who listens to her constituents, and someone who fights for her constituents and brings home resources to her constituents,” Slotkin told The Detroit News last month.<\/p>\n More: <\/strong>Slotkin eyes November in U.S. Senate race as Harper slams her policy views<\/a> <\/p>\n Slotkin has dominated the money race with over $24 million raised this cycle. She’s been on TV running ads to introduce herself to voters statewide since late May \u2015 a month before absentee ballots were mailed out. Through Monday, she had spent at least $5 million on airtime, according to ad-tracking data.<\/p>\n Neither Rogers nor Harper, by contrast, has gone up on TV. Harper’s campaign rolled out digital ads, however, and his campaign said it had tracked over 17 million online impressions from those spots in the last three months and has sent over 3.4 million texts in the last two months.<\/p>\n At Slotkin\u2019s election night party in Detroit, Democratic U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham called the Michigan Senate contest a \u201cmust-win seat\u201d for the country. To accomplish that, she said, there has to be unifying in the party following the primary. She emphasized the importance of an existing grassroots door-to-door movement and fundraising effort.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do need to bring people together after the primary,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cWe do need to have that bury-the-hatchet moment, which is going to be so deeply important. There’s a lot of bridge-building that will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Stevens said Slotkin is above attacks from the Harper or Rogers campaigns. She recalled Slotkin taking a leadership role among the Michigan delegation during the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to ensure people were safe.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you come for Elissa Slotkin, she will take you to the floor, and she will take you to task, and no one bullies her,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cNo one runs over her. She’s very strong. She’s a fighter. \u2026 And I think anyone trying to undercut her is just underestimating how strong Elissa Slotkin really is.\u201d<\/p>\n Pontiac native Kim Eaton, 44, said Tuesday she voted for Slotkin because “she’s always here” and participating in community events.<\/p>\n “She’s a name and face that I see more,” Eaton said. “And then I know Hill just moved here a few years ago, but I’m over movie stars, or celebrities going into Congress.”<\/p>\n Harper addressed reporters and supporters at the Detroit Club after 10 p.m. Tuesday. Motioning to a chair behind him covered with signatures of people who worked on his campaign, Harper said he plans to continue fighting for people who don\u2019t feel represented by big-money donors and super PACs.\u201cWhether you win an election or not doesn\u2019t stop the fight,\u201d Harper said. \u201cThe power of the people is always greater than the power of the people in power.\u201d<\/p>\n Kellie McCline, 51, of Detroit said Tuesday she voted for Harper because she felt he’d be a “positive listening ear” for the city.<\/p>\n “He has been an advocate in the city for a number of years. He’s putting down roots here, ingratiated himself into the community and he recognizes what the city of Detroit needs,” McCline said.<\/p>\n “I do like Slotkin, too. I think she has been an outspoken advocate specifically for the city of Detroit, as well as the state of Michigan. If she were to win, I wouldn’t be upset.”<\/p>\n Harper, a first-time candidate, ann a negative campaign against Slotkin, casting his bid as going up against the Democratic Party machine and an establishment candidate who\u2019s \u201cout of touch\u201d with everyday Michiganians and Black voters especially. He says Michigan doesn’t want to have to choose between a former CIA officer (Slotkin) and a former FBI agent (Rogers) in November.<\/p>\n On the campaign trail, Harper emphasized his background as a small business owner (he owns the Roasting Plant coffee shop in downtown Detroit), a union member and a single father to a young child.<\/p>\n His priorities in the Senate would have been ending the legislative filibuster \u2015 the 60-vote supermajority required to pass most Senate legislation \u2015 slashing funding for conflicts overseas and shutting down Enbridge\u2019s Line 5 oil pipeline<\/a> under the Straits of Mackinac. <\/p>\n Harper had targeted Black voters in particular and was endorsed by high-profile African American politicos, such as Wayne County Executive Warren Evans and former U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence of Southfield.<\/p>\n However, Slotkin also made a push for Black voters across the state, especially in majority-Black Detroit that she’s never represented, and won the backing of the influential Council of Baptist Pastors of Detroit and Vicinity, which represents over 100 African American churches throughout the Detroit area, as well as the Kent County Black Caucus.<\/p>\n Unofficial results showed Slotkin won 61% of the vote in Dearborn, where many Arab Americans reside \u2015 another subgroup that Harper had courted. He won 38% with 100% of precincts reporting late Tuesday.<\/strong> <\/p>\n mburke@detroitnews.com<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n Staff Writers Hannah Mackay and Julia Cardi contributed.<\/em> <\/p>\n \u00a92024 The Detroit News. Visit detroitnews.com<\/a>. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.<\/a> <\/p>\n KeyWords:: e8d27c8e-dab9-59d8-956c-a80ee889578f Democrat Elissa Slotkin and Republican Mike Rogers were victorious Tuesday evening in their respective primary contests for the open U.S. Senate seat in Michigan, setting up a general election showdown this fall that’s expected to be one of the most competitive races nationally. Slotkin, the three-term congresswoman from Holly, was ahead of actor and author […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-247716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=247716"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":247717,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247716\/revisions\/247717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=247716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=247716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=247716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}GOP bullish on Rogers<\/h3>\n
Slotkin dominates money race<\/h3>\n
Harper to keep up fight<\/h3>\n
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\nDTN SLOTKIN ROGERS WIN MICHIGAN SENATE PRIMARIES 20240806<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"