Senate Hopefuls Clash Over Corporate and State Power

Abdul El-Sayed called for tougher monopoly rules and more competition at the Detroit Economic Club on Oct. 20, while Mike Rogers argued that a senator should work with President Donald Trump's administration to get results. The candidates laid out rival plans for Michigan’s economy—and competing views on who should hold power over it.

Who Gets to Set the Terms

El-Sayed, a former public health official from Ann Arbor, said large corporations had taken over markets and that government needed to curb their undue influence. He asked how many people in the audience had a cellphone made by Apple or Samsung. Most raised their hands. El-Sayed called that evidence of an oligopoly, or limited competition, and said, “I think we need to start standing up to monopolies and oligopolies and start regulating them.”

He called himself a capitalist but said corporate power had grown too concentrated. “The problem right now, however, is that we have a few very, very large corporations who dominate a ton of our economy,” he said. “Old ideas have not been working. We are suffering for them.” His proposals included restoring “competitiveness in a market,” increasing union influence and providing government-funded health coverage to everyone.

Rogers, a former U.S. House member from White Lake, laid out another path: low taxes, more American-made energy and better student reading scores. He pointed to bipartisan legislation and his relationship with Trump's administration. Trump endorsed Rogers in July 2025. “My thing is this: Send somebody back that can actually go and get a meeting and fix it,” Rogers said. A senator who wanted to “gouge the president's eyes out,” he argued, wouldn’t help Michigan.

The Ballot and the Bosses

Rogers said Michigan had little time to improve what he called its “very low metrics.” He criticized what he called some Democrats’ “anti-business” policies and said he would “use business to solve our problems.” “I think that's the difference,” he said. The candidates also offered different approaches to tariffs and artificial intelligence during a discussion focused heavily on economic issues.

Rogers closed his session with a story about a conversation with an elected official in Detroit, who told him the city wouldn’t become a “Democratic Socialist city.” “That's what's on the ballot,” Rogers said, referring to support El-Sayed had received from prominent democratic socialists, including U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Rogers called their proposals “big government, government control, more rules, more regulations, another Green New Deal.”

The event put two candidates for public office onstage to debate the roles of government, business and organized labor. It didn’t feature a reported grassroots campaign or a community-led economic plan. Each candidate took questions separately for about 25 minutes at the Detroit Masonic Temple, two weeks before Election Day and one day before a scheduled second televised debate.

A Senate Seat, a National Contest

The candidates are seeking the seat held by U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, who announced in January 2025 that he wouldn’t seek a third six-year term. Some political observers said Democrats needed to hold the seat to have a chance to flip control of the GOP-led Senate. At an appearance in Monroe the previous week, Republican Vice President JD Vance called the Michigan race the most important in the country.

According to organizers, the Detroit Economic Club appearance drew dozens of reporters, including journalists from Finland and Japan. Rogers spoke first, answering questions from WDIV-TV journalist Jason Colthorp. El-Sayed answered reporters afterward; Rogers did not. Asked whether Rogers was too much of the same in Washington, D.C., El-Sayed said Rogers described himself in line with what Donald Trump wanted and characterized his approach as “go along to get along.” Voters face sharply different pitches in the contest, with the Senate seat at stake.