Democrats maintain control of Michigan Senate seat.
The victory by Rep. Elissa Slotkin upholds the Democrats’ 25-year control of Michigan’s Senate delegation and strengthens their minority presence in the chamber.
DETROIT—Michigan’s Senate delegation remains firmly Democratic as Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) triumphed over Republican Mike Rogers to secure the seat left by retiring Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow.
The race was called on Nov. 6 at 3:12 p.m. ET. Slotkin’s win bolsters the Democrats’ minority position in the chamber following the Republicans’ Senate takeover on Tuesday night. At present, Republicans hold 52 Senate seats compared to the Democrats’ 44, with four seats still undetermined.
Rogers, a former seven-term congressman, closed in on Slotkin’s lead in polls to as little as four points but fell short on Election Day.
No Michigan Republican has clinched a Senate election since 1996, with only two serving in the upper house since the 1950s.
Aged 48, Slotkin has represented Michigan in Congress since 2018, initially in the Eighth District and then in the Seventh District following redistricting.
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Slotkin, educated at Cornell University and the Columbia University School of Public Affairs, was recruited by the CIA as a Middle East analyst.
Within a year, she was deployed to Iraq as a team leader. She later held positions at the Department of State and as Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. Her government service spanned nearly 15 years under the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
Slotkin focused her campaign extensively on abortion access, running ads that criticized Rogers for his stance on the issue in a 2000 candidate questionnaire. This messaging seemed effective despite Rogers’s assurances that he wouldn’t work to reverse Michigan’s constitutional protection of abortion access.
Rogers faced allegations of living at an address different from where he was registered to vote. On Oct. 15, he attributed this to ongoing construction at his registered voting address.
As Election Day approached, both sides emphasized voter turnout. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) noted that the race would likely hinge on voter participation.
“Elissa leads, but nobody can take that for granted,” Dingell told The Epoch Times on Oct. 10.
Rep. Lisa McLain (R-Mich.), advocating for Rogers, urged Michiganders to vote early.
“We just have to understand the importance of getting out to vote,” she told The Epoch Times.
