Michigan U.S. Senate candidates Rogers and Slotkin are in a tight race

Former Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers of White Lake and Democratic U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Holly are in a tight race for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat.

Just before 9:30 a.m., 97.8% of ballots had been counted, with Rogers and Slotkin each receiving 48% of the vote, according to unofficial results compiled by The Associated Press. Return to freep.com for updated results.

The race is between Slotkin, a three-term congresswoman, former acting assistant secretary of defense and former intelligence officer; and Rogers, a former FBI agent and Army officer who served as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee before resigning in 2015 after seven two-year terms, was considered a national leader for how successful Republicans could be in this year’s elections.

Michigan has not elected a Republican U.S. senator since Spencer Abraham won a single six-year term in 1994. And no Republican has been elected to the statewide office during a presidential year since the 1970s.

But the GOP believed its chances were good this year, with Democratic President Joe Biden facing low favorability ratings at least in part due to a surge in illegal immigration along the southern border and high inflation that has abated somewhat in recent months. There was also the fact that former Republican President Donald Trump, running for re-election, was focusing on winning Michigan, as he did in 2016, and the belief that it could bolster Rogers, a former Trump critic who has since joined him and won his approval.

But in Slotkin, Democrats also opted for a candidate known for his tenacity on the campaign trail and ability to stay ahead of his party’s ticket. She is also known as a prolific fundraiser and has been considered the odds-on favorite throughout the election to fill the seat being vacated by Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow after four six-year terms.

According to the latest Free Press poll, Slotkin had a 47% to 42% lead over Rogers.which is outside the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. However, some other polls have shown the race to be closer.

Slotkin has already spent nearly $44 million of her own campaign funds on the race, compared with $8.6 million for Rogers, according to Open Secrets, a website that tracks political spending. But given that the race could help determine which party wins a majority in the Senate—and how big that majority is— a staggering amount of independent spending has poured into the race on behalf of elected officials, including more than $78 million from conservative groups opposing Slotkin and supporting Rogers. Another nearly $63 million is backing Slotkin and targeting Rodgers’ defeat.

The race has largely revolved around Rogers’ attempts to characterize Slotkin as an ally of the Biden administration and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, saying Slotkin has done nothing while consumer prices and illegal immigration have risen. He also cast her as a supporter of what Republicans call an electric vehicle mandate that would force automakers to build and consumers to buy electric cars and trucks.

There is no mandate — although stricter emissions rules could mean automakers will have to sell many more electric vehicles by 2032 or face stiff penalties if those rules aren’t changed — but Detroit automakers have been involved in crafting those standards. Slotkin, who has presented herself as a bipartisan consensus moderate throughout her political career, also said that she does not support any regulations that would force anyone to make or buy electric vehicles, but that she does support standards that would improve electric vehicle technology . so they can be built in the USA

Slotkin, meanwhile, pushed back, noting that Rogers had lived out of state for much of the time since leaving office, returning only to run for a Senate seat, and that he could not be trusted on the issue of abortion rights . Rogers, like other Republicans, has pledged that he will not vote for any national ban or other restriction that would conflict with the abortion protections now enshrined in the state constitution. But Slotkin rightly points out that Rogers was a vocal opponent of abortion throughout his political career. She also criticized him for being too friendly to corporations, protecting the pharmaceutical industry from price controls and voting against health care reforms such as the Affordable Care Act.

Contact Todd Spangler: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler.