Michigan Senate Race Puts Government’s Role on the Ballot

Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers laid out sharply different plans for Michigan’s economy at the Detroit Economic Club on Oct. 20. Their campaigns for the U.S. Senate put the federal government’s role in markets, health care and energy at the center, and the contest could help decide whether Republicans retain control of the Senate.

The candidates spoke separately at the Detroit Masonic Temple. Rogers emphasized bipartisan legislation and his relationship with Republican President Donald Trump’s administration; El-Sayed called for stronger regulation of large corporations and broader government-provided health coverage. Their proposals showed how differently they view the amount of power government should exercise over the economy.

The Senate seat and the national stakes

The candidates are competing for the seat held by U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township. Peters announced in January 2025 that he wouldn’t seek a third six-year term. Some political observers said Democrats needed to hold the seat if they hoped 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.

The report described the contest as a microcosm of the national political battle during the fall midterm election. Dozens of reporters attended the Detroit event, organizers said, including journalists from Finland and Japan.

Rogers, a former U.S. House member from White Lake, said his experience and access to the administration could help him deliver results. 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. He argued that sending someone whose goal was to “gouge the president’s eyes out” wouldn’t help Michigan. “We don’t have a lot of time to get our very low metrics up,” he added.

Competing plans for markets and government

El-Sayed, a former public health official from Ann Arbor, argued that large corporations had taken over markets. He said stronger competition and regulation were needed to prevent undue influence. “Old ideas have not been working,” he said. “We are suffering for them.”

He asked how many people in the audience had a cellphone made by Apple or Samsung. Most raised their hands. El-Sayed said the response showed an oligopoly, or limited competition, and called for action against “monopolies and oligopolies.” He described himself as a capitalist, but said a few very large corporations dominate much of the economy.

El-Sayed advocated restoring “competitiveness in a market,” increasing union influence and providing government-funded health care coverage to everyone. “Guaranteeing health insurance to everybody in this country would be the single most important thing we could do for small business,” he said. The candidates also discussed tariffs and artificial intelligence.

Rogers said he wanted to boost American-made energy, keep taxes low and improve student reading scores. 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. Rogers added, “I don’t care who’s the president. I don’t care who’s the governor. We’re going to get this done for the future or our state.”

Dispute over the direction of the state

Rogers spoke first, taking questions from WDIV-TV journalist Jason Colthorp. He recounted a conversation with an elected official in Detroit who told him Detroit wouldn’t become a “Democratic Socialist city.” Rogers linked that warning to support El-Sayed had received from prominent democratic socialists, including U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. “That’s what’s on the ballot,” Rogers said, describing their proposals as “big government, government control, more rules, more regulations, another Green New Deal.”

El-Sayed answered reporters’ questions after the meeting; Rogers didn’t. Asked whether Rogers was too much of the same in Washington, D.C., El-Sayed said Rogers referred to himself in consistency with what Donald Trump wants and accused him of lacking an economic viewpoint. El-Sayed called Rogers’ approach “go along to get along.”