Dem
51
GOP
49
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) is retiring and the DSCC has its candidate to replace her: Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI). Slotkin has to first get through a primary with actor Hill Harper, but that is expected to be easy with the entire party behind Slotkin. The Republicans have been hunting around for a candidate without much success until now. They have talked former representative Mike Rogers into running, and he is expected to announce a run shortly. He represented MI-08 from Jan. 2001 until Jan. 2015.
Rogers was born in Michigan, grew up there, graduated from Adrian College in Adrian, MI, and then served in the Army for 4 years. He later worked for the FBI and was elected to the state Senate in 1994 and served for 6 years, ending as majority leader. In the U.S. House, he sponsored a bill forbidding anti-war protests on federal land near funerals of soldiers killed in action. He also sponsored a bill to allow the government to share its cyberintelligence with private companies and another to ban Internet gambling. He was also chairman of the House Intelligence Committee for several years. After retiring from the House, he became a radio personality. He is also the chairman of the board at the MITRE Corporation, a nonprofit that manages six federally funded R&D labs with an aggregate annual budget of nearly $2 billion.
The race will be critical. Michigan is a swing state and in a closely divided Senate, every seat counts. As a veteran with a law enforcement background and 8 years in Congress, Rogers is a strong competitor. The race could be close. (V)