EXCLUSIVE – DETROIT, MI – Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers has a message for Democrats who are far from happy with their party’s nominee in : “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.Â
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 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. Its 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 thatâ¦values do matter in this election, and we’re going to be talking to a lot of people that would not normally haveâ¦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.
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 Trumps dangerous election lies, hell rubber-stamp Trumps reckless agendaâdriving 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 righ
