Republican Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers and Americans for Prosperity Action (AFP Action) senior adviser Tim Golding told Breitbart News they are emphasizing affordability, energy reform, education reform, manufacturing, and bipartisan problem-solving as Rogers campaigns for the November election.
Rogers said Monday’s Democratic Senate debate showed that he believes Rep. Haley Stevens and Abdul El-Sayed are both “too extreme for Michigan.”
“I think the crazy train has arrived in Michigan,” Rogers said. “I think Bernie Sanders is throwing the coal in the fire, and AOC is the engineer, and those two Democrat candidates are riding that train.”
Rogers said the race would offer a contrast focused on “getting manufacturing back” and “getting our kids reading.”
“They’re not talking about any of these real problems that we’re facing here in Michigan,” Rogers said.
Rogers pointed to El-Sayed’s association with political commentator Hasan Piker, saying El-Sayed “campaigned with Hassan Piker, who believed America deserved 9/11.” He additionally questioned El-Sayed’s account of his record as a health director, saying, “what he said he did and what he did were two different things.”
Rogers described the contest as an opportunity to change Michigan’s political direction, pointing to Democratic control of both Senate seats and state government.
“Democrats have had both of these Senate seats for the better part of a quarter century. They’ve had Lansing for eight years,” Rogers said. “We’ve lost 200,000 manufacturing jobs. Our education is now 45th in the country. We have the highest utility rates in the Midwest. We had the highest auto insurance rates in the country.”
“This is a change election, and I’m going to be the change that gets Michigan back working again,” he added.
Asked about El-Sayed’s statement during the debate that he is not a socialist, Rogers responded, “If you walk like a duck, you quack like a duck. Guess what? In Michigan, we know you’re a duck.”
“He is absolutely a socialist,” Rogers said, pointing to El-Sayed’s criminal-justice positions and support from prominent progressive figures. “You can’t bring in leading socialists from around the country, like Bernie Sanders and AOC and Ilhan Omar, and then wonder why people don’t believe you.”
Golding said the debate had not changed AFP Action’s voter outreach approach.
“We’re talking about Mike Rogers and what Mike Rogers brings to the table and his conservative policy ideas and agenda,” Golding said, pointing to Rogers’s proposals on education, permitting, and energy reform.
Rogers said his affordability agenda would begin by “unleashing” American energy to reduce energy prices.
Rogers blamed Michigan’s cost pressures on state and federal energy policies.
“In our state legislature, they bought into that whole Green New Deal nonsense, and it has raised our utility rates to the highest in the Midwest,” Rogers said. “We’re about 20 percent higher than the national average.”
Rogers said his administration would reverse regulations affecting energy costs.
“We’re going to make sure that those regulations are gone, and so that we can finally have more money at the end of the month than we have bills,” he said. “Right now, that’s really hard for working families here in Michigan.”
Addressing housing, Rogers said, “I have a plan to get young people to have the opportunity to save tax-free for a down payment of a house, get credit for their rent payments, which don’t happen today.”
Golding said voters frequently raise a desire for elected officials to work across party lines.
“People want to see civility, and they want to see things happen without all the partisan fighting,” Golding said.
“When people hear Mike talk about his plans for permitting reform and energy of abundance from all sources, which is 100 percent in line with what we like at AFP, their ears perk up,” he added.
Rogers said he hears the same concerns while traveling across Michigan.
“It’s really about affordability,” Rogers said. “They want people that can go back, put coalitions together to get these things done.”
Golding said AFP Action has encountered left-leaning and Democratic voters who could support Rogers, particularly if El-Sayed wins the Democratic nomination.
“Especially if the Marxist socialist progressive person gets elected in the primary and comes through, there are going to be people that are not going to vote that way,” Golding said. “They’re going to jump ship and vote for Mike.”
Golding said Michigan voters are also concerned about the state’s education system.
“Despite spending more money every year per pupil, our results keep going the wrong direction,” Golding said.
Rogers said “literacy in the fourth grade” is an important part of his education agenda, along with “putting shop back in school” and expanding access to shop classes.
“We’ve gone so digital,” Rogers said, adding that shop classes could introduce students to skilled-trade careers offering “really good pay” and “really good career opportunities” without substantial college debt.
“You can take care of a family, you can buy a house, you can get a car,” Rogers said. He added that the proposal to put shop classes back in schools has been “wildly popular.”
Asked about vandalism and free speech violations involving conservative organizations on college campuses, Rogers recalled a saying from his mother: “Your free speech ends at the end of your fist touching the beginning of my nose.”
“When they’re committing acts of vandalism, that is the end of their fist touching the beginning of your nose,” Rogers said. “I just don’t think we should tolerate it.”
Rogers said destroying banners is not protected speech and that universities should not tolerate vandalism.
“We’ve got to get universities understanding there should be diversity of thought,” Rogers said. He also pointed to what he described as “huge antisemitic problems at campuses like University of Michigan.”
“What we need to do is make sure that the universities protect that kind of free speech and not encourage vandalism,” Rogers said.
Golding said AFP Action endorsed Rogers because of his work ethic, policy agenda, and performance during the organization’s candidate review process.
“Besides being one of the hardest-working candidates out there and going out there every day trying to win people’s votes and having good policy solutions, that’s the biggest thing,” Golding said. “He is aligned with our policies, whether that’s energy, education, healthcare reforms, all those different things.”
Golding said AFP Action has “a pretty detailed process” for evaluating candidates in every race.
“Mike passed all those tests, passed with flying colors, and he’s the right candidate,” Golding said. “He’s going to be fantastic.”
Golding said AFP Action has “boots on the ground every day” and set a goal of contacting approximately 1.2 million Michigan voters at their homes before Election Day.
“Thus far, I think we’re right at 500,000 doors,” Golding said. “That’s just our organization across the state.”
Rogers said his campaign has independently reached approximately 400,000 to 500,000 doors, while other organizations are also conducting voter outreach.
“This is a huge, massive effort, and we’re touching voters with, I think, a positive message about Michigan’s future,” Rogers said.
Golding said AFP Action has “pushed all our chips to the center of the table” in support of Rogers.
“We’re all in, and we’re having real conversations every day,” Golding said. “It’s not a poll. It’s actually people talking to us and interacting with us, and it’s resonating.”
Rogers praised AFP Action’s organizers and volunteers as “phenomenal” and “great to work with.”
“The people are fired up. They’re committed to the cause,” Rogers said. “They’re proving it with their legs. They’re going door to door and knocking.”
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