Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers brought his closing argument directly to Michigan voters this week, using a Fox News town hall with Sean Hannity to hammer Democratic opponent Abdul El-Sayed as a "manufactured candidate" whose policies would do real damage to the state.
Rogers didn't mince words during the Monday event, accusing El-Sayed of a "pattern of deception" and warning that the Democrat's record is far outside the mainstream of a state that has been trending red.
"He is the most extreme candidate. He has called for defunding the police. He has called for letting criminals out of prison," Rogers said.
The former congressman also touted a grass-roots operation that he says has knocked on nearly 6 million doors across Michigan — a staggering number that signals the Rogers campaign is betting big on old-fashioned retail politics in the final stretch before Election Day on Nov. 3.
El-Sayed's Record Under the Microscope
Rogers leaned into what he described as El-Sayed's history of shifting positions, calling him a candidate who was built in a lab rather than forged by Michigan voters. The NRSC has also amplified scrutiny of El-Sayed's past statements and associations, including an X post from Next News Network this week that highlighted the Democrat's on-camera denial of Muslim Brotherhood ties — a denial the NRSC says was contradicted by his own sister — along with questions about a funder, an Arabic-language op-ed and his posture toward Iran.
That post, published by @nextnews on X, is part of a broader push by Republicans to define El-Sayed before he can define himself. The Fox town hall gave Rogers a national platform to do exactly that.
Polls Show a Tight Race — but El-Sayed Leads
The warning comes as several recent surveys show El-Sayed holding a narrow but consistent lead. An Oct. 1 Mitchell Research & Communications poll conducted for CBS Detroit and other TV stations put El-Sayed at 45.6% to Rogers' 41.4%, with a margin of error of ±3.8 points. A YouGov poll conducted Sept. 22 to Oct. 4 had El-Sayed ahead 49%-48%, within a ±2.5-point margin. An Oct. 5-6 Quantus Insights poll showed El-Sayed at 47.6% and Rogers at 46.5%, with a wide ±7.8-point margin that leaves the race effectively tied.
The Real Clear Politics polling average gives El-Sayed a 2.6-point edge overall, based on polls completed between Sept. 27 and Oct. 14 — down from a 3.4-point lead in the previous average. Rogers has not led in the RCP average since August and has not led in any individual poll since a Sept. 3 Detroit News Glengariff survey.
Both candidates are running to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, and the outcome could determine control of the Senate.
Rogers Makes His Closing Pitch
Beyond the attacks, Rogers took questions from voters — including a Jewish woman who said she sometimes feels afraid to show her Jewish identity in public, a moment that underscored the stakes of the race for Michigan's Jewish community. The New York Times reported this week that Daniel Biss, who won a high-profile Democratic House primary in a Chicago-area district with large Jewish communities, was headed to Detroit for an event aimed at rallying Jewish voters behind El-Sayed.
Rogers also laid out a policy agenda centered on housing, education and skilled trades. He said he wants to make it easier for young adults to buy homes and to bring more defense industry work to Michigan. He called for putting shop classes back in Michigan high schools, arguing that expanding skilled-trade education would give students more paths to well-paying careers.
"Michigan cannot afford" El-Sayed's policies, Rogers said in closing, returning to his central theme.
Our Take
Mike Rogers is doing exactly what a Republican needs to do in Michigan: tying Abdul El-Sayed to the radical left's most unpopular positions and refusing to let him run as a moderate. Defund the police? Letting criminals out of prison? Those aren't smears — they're positions El-Sayed has taken, and Michigan voters deserve to know about them before they cast a ballot.
The polls show El-Sayed with a narrow lead, but the Rogers campaign's ground game — nearly 6 million doors — is the kind of operation that can close a two-point gap in the final weeks. Sean Hannity's town hall gave Rogers a megaphone, and he used it.
The question now is whether Michigan voters will listen to the warning or hand the Senate seat to a candidate whose agenda is out of step with the state. Patriots, the stakes couldn't be higher — and the choice couldn't be clearer.
