Dem
51
GOP
49
With the retirement of Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), a Senate seat in a swing state is open. Needless to say, that causes ears in Michigan to perk up. The Democrats have pretty much nailed down their candidate in fundraising powerhouse Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), although she has to first knock out a minor opponent in a primary.
The Republican side will feature a much bigger battle. Former representative Mike Rogers is already in. So is former Detroit Chief of Police James Craig. The talk of the Senate is that former representative Peter Meijer will join them later this week. This could be a race where that ol' candidate quality matters. Rogers is fairly Trumpy. Meijer is not. In fact, Meijer voted to impeach Trump. However, he is also independently wealthy, so he can self-fund his campaign in addition to getting money from non-Trumpy Republicans nationwide. On the other hand, billionaire Betsy DeVos is on Team Rogers, so that could even out.
Money won't be the only factor, though. Rogers is strongly anti-choice in a year when abortion is probably going to dominate the ads from almost all Democrats. That is not going to change, since his benefactor, DeVos, once likened getting an abortion to owning slaves. The Republican primary is going to be a knock-down drag-out fight, which rarely helps a party. (V)