EXCLUSIVE – Former Rep. Mike Rogers, who was the GOP Senate nominee in Michigan in last year’s election, is launching a second straight Republican run for the Senate in the crucial Great Lakes battleground state.Rogers, a former FBI special agent who later served as chair of the House Intelligence Committee during his tenure in Congress, announced his candidacy in the 2026 Senate race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters in a video that was shared nationally first with Fox News.”As your next senator, I won’t just represent Michigan, I’ll fight for it,” Rogers emphasizes in his video announcement.Highlighting his long career in the military, the FBI, and as an elected state and federal lawmaker, Rogers says that he is “running to serve as your next senator because service is what I’ve always done. Michigan, let’s get to work.”A LIKELY BRUISING SENATE BATTLE IN BATTLEGROUND MICHIGAN HEATS UP AS THIS CANDIDATE ENTERS THE RACE Former Rep. Mike Rogers, a Republican Senate candidate in Michigan, is interviewed by Fox New Digital, in Grand Rapids, Michigan on April 2, 2024. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)And in his video, Rogers also spotlights his support for President Donald Trump, saying “I’ll stand with President Trump, and we will deliver on the mandate given to him by the American people….for me it will always be America and Michigan first.”Rogers won the 2024 GOP Senate nomination in Michigan but narrowly lost to Rep. Elissa Slotkin, the Democrats’ nominee, in last November’s election in the race to succeed longtime Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who retired. Slotkin, who vastly outspent Rogers, edged him by roughly 19,000 votes, or a third of a percentage point.WILL THIS BLUE STATE REPUBLICAN END THE GOP’S 20-YEAR LOSING STREAK IN HIS STATE?The Senate seat in Michigan is one of three held by the Democrats that the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) is planning to heavily target as it aims to expand the GOP’s current 53-47 majority in the chamber. The other two are in New Hampshire, where longtime Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is retiring rather than running for re-election in 2026, and Georgia, where the GOP considers a first-term Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff vulnerable. Michigan Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers speaks at a campaign event on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, in Flint, Mich. Rogers on Monday launched a second straight run for the Senate. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)While Rogers is the first major Republican to enter the Senate race in Michigan, he may not have the field to himself.Longtime Republican Rep. Bill Huizenga told Fox News last week that as soon as Peters announced earlier this year that he wouldn’t seek re-election, “my phone started to ring and it hasn’t stopped ringing.”LONGTIME HOUSE REPUBLICAN WEIGHS SENATE BID IN KEY BATTLEGROUNDHuizenga, who was first elected to the House in 2010 and represents Michigan’s 4th Congressional District, which covers parts of the southwestern part of the state, highlighted that he’s getting “encouragement” to seek the Senate from “grassroots folks,” as well as donors. Republican Rep. Bill Huizenga of Michigan speaks at a campaign rally for now-President Donald Trump, on Nov. 1, 2024 in Portage, Michigan (Bill Huizenga campaign)As for his timetable, Huizenga said: “I’m still going to do my evaluation here, and need to kind of push through on the fundraising and need to make sure that I’m able to get the support that I really need to have to be able to do this kind of run.”ONLY ON FOX NEWS: SENATE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN CHAIR REVEALS HOW MANY SEATS HE’S AIMING FOR IN 2026An endorsement by Trump, whose sway over the GOP is stronger than ever, is expected to play a significant role if there’s a contested Republican Senate primary in Michigan.And while Trump has yet to weigh in on the race, Rogers earlier this year hired veteran Republican strategist and 2024 Trump co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita as a senior advisor. LaCivita remains close to the president and his political team in the White House. Michigan Republican Senate nominee, former Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan, speaks alongside then-Republican presidential nomine former President Donald Trump during a campaign event hosted by Trump at the Falk Productions manufacturing facility on Sept. 27, 2024 in Walker, Mich. ( Scott Olson/Getty Images)Rogers in 2022 and early 2023 mulled a 2024 Republican presidential nomination run of his own, and had a few critical comments of Trump at the time. But Rogers later became a strong supporter of the then-former president and Trump endorsed Rogers in the 2024 Michigan Senate race in March of last year, after clinching the GOP presidential nomination.WHY PETE BUTTIGIEG SAID NO TO RUNNING FOR THE SENATE NEXT YEAR IN MICHIGANBesides Rogers and Huizenga, business executive, conservative commentator and 2022 Republican gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon has said she’s seriously mulling another run for governor, or for the Senate, in 2026.And Republican businessman and auto dealership executive Kevin Rinke, who ran for governor in 2022, is also thought to be considering another statewide run next year. Mallory McMorrow, a Democratic Michigan state Senator, launched a 2026 campaign for the U.S. Senate in the Great Lakes battleground state earlier this month. (Reuters/Elizabeth Frantz) (REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz)Earlier this month, Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow launched a campaign for the Democratic Senate nomination.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPReps. Kristen McDonald Rivet and Haley Stevens are considering a run, as is Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. Last month, Pete Buttigieg, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate who later served as Transportation Secretary in former President Joe Biden’s administration, ruled out a campaign after seriously considering a bid. Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in New Hampshire.
First on Fox: Republican launches second straight bid to flip Democrat-held Senate seat in key battleground
