A new poll in Michigan’s U.S. Senate race shows Democrat Abdul El-Sayed leading Republican Mike Rogers by seven points, the latest sign of a competitive contest that will help decide control of the chamber next year.
Rogers, a former Republican congressman, is making his second bid for the seat after losing to Democrat Elissa Slotkin by roughly 20,000 votes in 2024. President Trump endorsed Rogers early in this cycle.
El-Sayed, a health care worker who has run for statewide office before, is campaigning this week alongside former Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s 2024 presidential nominee.
On the campaign trail, Rogers has focused on the cost of living and the ongoing conflict involving Iran, arguing that ending the war would ease pressure on energy prices.
“Michigan families are struggling with the price of everyday life. Groceries cost too much. We have to bring prices down. The war with Iran needs to end, and end quickly. When it does, energy costs will plummet. But Michigan families can’t afford to wait for that to happen,” Rogers said in a video statement.
Rogers also renewed a previous call to suspend state and federal gas taxes. “I previously called for the suspension of the state and federal gas tax, 70 cents a gallon,” he said.
El-Sayed has campaigned in part on expanding health care coverage, including support for a Medicare for All system that would go beyond the Affordable Care Act.
No Republican has won a U.S. Senate race in Michigan in 32 years, a streak Rogers is trying to break in a state that has trended Democratic in recent presidential and statewide contests even as margins have narrowed. Harris carried Michigan in 2024, though by a smaller margin than Barack Obama did in 2016, according to results cited alongside the new poll.
Michigan voters will also decide races for governor, secretary of state and attorney general in 2026, making the state one of the more closely watched battlegrounds heading into the midterms.
