GOP former Rep. Mike Rogers says he may run for US Senate again in 2026
Rogers, who lost his bid for the Senate in 2024, is considering a second attempt after Democratic Sen. Gary Peters announced his retirement.
Former Michigan Republican Rep. Mike Rogers said on Jan. 30 that he may run for the open U.S. Senate seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters in November 2026. Rogers lost the November 2024 race for Michigan’s other Senate seat to Democrat Elissa Slotkin.
“I’ve spent the last two years traveling across Michigan, with the support of President Trump and millions of voters throughout the state. And what I learned more than anything is that hard-working Michiganders deserve strong and honest representation that will have President Trump’s back,” Rogers said in a statement. “That’s why Kristi and I are strongly considering getting in the fight once again — to be the ally that President Trump needs, and the leader that Michigan deserves. Good news is coming soon.”
A Rogers spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story. In a Jan. 31 appearance on Fox News Radio, Rogers told host Brian Kilmeade: “We came within three-tenths of 1% of winning that race. And so that tells me our messaging was right.”
In 14 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, Rogers had a consistently conservative voting record.
In the early 2000s, Rogers backed major changes to the safety net system that would have allowed individuals to put part of their Social Security tax into private investment funds. Had such a scheme been in place when the stock market crashed in 2008, retirees could have lost tens of thousands of dollars in retirement funds. As recently as 2023, he said retirement needed to be rethought and that every option would have to be on the table.
According to the news site The Gander, Rogers voted for a 2011 plan to replace the Medicare health insurance program with a system of vouchers that beneficiaries would use to pay private insurance premiums, to increase out-of-pocket costs for its subscribers and to raise the age of eligibility from 65 to 67. He voted against the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, in 2010, and repeatedly voted to repeal the law.
Rogers, who accepted more than $1 million in contributions from the health products and pharmaceutical industry to his campaigns and political action committee over the course of his political career, voted for the 2003 Medicare Part D law. As originally written, the legislation added a prescription drug benefit to the Medicare program, but prohibited the government from negotiating with drug manufacturers for lower prices. Rogers defended the prohibition in 2006 and voted against a 2007 bill to lift the ban. After the Democratic-led Congress authorized drug price negotiations as part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, Rogers opposed the move, according to a Michigan Advance report, telling a town hall audience it amounted to “sugar high politics.”
As a 2024 Senate candidate, he downplayed his anti-abortion views, saying in one campaign ad: “I know that a decision about a pregnancy is one of the most difficult and personal decisions a woman will make. Michigan voters have already decided the issue, and I respect that decision. In the Senate, I won’t do anything to change it.” However, as recently as May 2023, he had told New Hampshire voters, “I’ve been a pro-life candidate my entire career.”
Rogers routinely voted against abortion rights in Congress, backed legal rights for fetuses and embryos from the moment of conception, and cosponsored legislation that would have required the Food and Drug Administration to withdraw its approval of mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortions.
In 2007 and 2009, Rogers voted against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, a law that made it easier for victims of workplace discrimination to obtain pay they were owed. In 2008 and 2009, he cast votes against the Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill that aimed to hold employers accountable for pay discrimination.
As a state legislator from 1995 to 2001 and in Congress, Rogers consistently voted for school vouchers to use public funds to pay for private and religious education. In a September 2023 campaign video, he blasted public schools, saying, “Schools care more about social engineering than, as my father used to say, the three R’s: readin’, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic.”
Rogers received A ratings from the National Rifle Association; he opposed gun safety legislation aimed at preventing school shootings. After a deadly September 2024 mass shooting at a high school in Winder, Georgia, he baselessly blamed social media and mental health problems, repeating comments he’d made after previous incidents of gun violence.
His record on labor issues was anti-union, voting with the AFL-CIO’s positions just 11% of the time in Congress. He supported efforts to eliminate wage protections for construction workers, to make millions of working Americans ineligible for overtime pay, and to replace overtime pay with extra time off.
Several other Republicans and Democrats are reportedly considering running for the Michigan Senate seat in 2026.
