TO: Interested Parties
FROM: Michigan Democratic Party
DATE: Friday, July 26, 2024
RE: With Just Over 100 Days Until General Election, Mike Rogers’ Long Record of Enriching Himself at Michiganders’ Expense Will Cost Him in November
With just over 100 days until the general election, Mike Rogers’ significant vulnerabilities have become clearer as he faces scrutiny on his record of abandoning Michigan and selling out to China to enrich himself. With his extensive record supporting dangerous abortion bans, it’s clear that Rogers is out of step with Michiganders.
Mike Rogers sold out Michigan and our national security to enrich himself.
Rogers’ “revolving door” career “advising companies on issues he dealt with in Congress” – and his resulting “explosion of wealth” is under a spotlight. After abandoning Michigan for Florida, Rogers sold out to China to make “hundreds of thousands of dollars in wealth through companies that have partnered with Chinese firms.”
“Rogers’s own financial connections to China have created questions,” as Rogers has “personally benefited from his connections to China in opposition to U.S. national security interests” and “has a long record of helping expand the reach of Chinese companies in the U.S. and Europe.”
Republicans have called out Rogers for “getting rich cozying up to the Chinese communist party” and trying to “make millions from Saudi companies with nuclear ambitions” as well as “profiting from doing work in areas that they’re overseeing” and “mak[ing] millions” with his revolving door career by selling out Michigan and our national security to China.
Take a look:
- Detroit News: Mike Rogers targets China in Senate campaign, but his own connections draw criticism
- Business Insider: 9 years through the revolving door: How the GOP’s top Senate recruit in Michigan got rich after leaving Congress
- Heartland Signal: Michigan GOP Senate candidate Mike Rogers connected to Saudi companies, including one with nuclear ambitions
- Heartland Signal: Michigan Senate candidate spews anti-China rhetoric despite working to expand Chinese companies and personal wealth
- The Gander: Mike Rogers voted against reining in special interests. Now he’s running for US Senate.
- American Journal News: Mike Rogers’ ties to Chinese telecom giants fuel hypocrisy scandal
- American Journal News: Michigan Republican Mike Rogers has repeatedly dodged questions about his work at AT&T
- American Journal News: Michigan Republican Mike Rogers worked for organization that threatened privacy rights
- Michigan Advance: A new house is being built for Mr. Rogers in his not-yet-neighborhood
- Michigan Advance: Where is Mr. Rogers’ neighborhood?
Mike Rogers supports dangerous abortion bans and has an extensive anti-abortion record.
Rogers “consistently voted” for abortion bans that would rip away Michiganders’ freedom to make their own personal medical decisions, co-sponsored and voted for anti-abortion bills that would have criminalized and banned abortion, and celebrated the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
In Congress, Rogers co-sponsored four anti-IVF bills and “repeatedly co-sponsored bills” to suspend FDA approval of mifepristone. Rogers refuses to protect IVF in the Senate and won’t answer for his past fetal personhood legislation votes. If Rogers had “lived in Michigan instead of Florida” in 2022, he would have voted against Proposal 3.
Take a look:
- The Gander: Mike Rogers tries to distance Senate campaign from his anti-abortion record
- The Gander: Republican Senate candidates face backlash over anti-abortion records in Michigan
- CNN: Republican candidates downplay past anti-abortion stances ahead of 2024 election
Mike Rogers has enriched himself while supporting policies that would spike costs for Michiganders
Rogers supports repealing the Affordable Care Act that would spike costs for families, slashing Social Security and Medicare that would rip away Michiganders’ hard-earned benefits, and attacking workers.
Rogers supports passing tax giveaways that slash taxes for the wealthiest few but do nothing for Michigan families, saying in response to a question about the 2017 corporate tax giveaway “There’s no tax cut I don’t like.”
Take a look:
- The Gander: Republican Senate candidates vow to take away health insurance from 1.3 million Michiganders
- The Gander: GOP Senate candidates’ records suggest they’d back cuts to Social Security and Medicare
- Michigan Independent: Mike Rogers says he supports UAW strike but fought against union consistently in Congress
- Washington Examiner: GOP Michigan Senate contender backs key Trump trade priority
Bottom Line: Mike Rogers is only in this race for himself.
Rogers has been called “unfit to serve” because of his “transactional approach to politics [and] his ideological inconsistency” that “render[s] him a poor fit for this Senate seat.”
Former GOP Chair Jeff Timmer called out Rogers for being a “weak man” whose “character has been jettisoned.” Voters have voiced concerns about Rogers who “has been compromised by the millions he has made since leaving Congress in 2015 working with corporations, including some foreign-based companies.”
Take a look:
- Detroit Free Press [EDITORIAL]: Michigan GOP voters: …[Do] not [choose] Mike Rogers in Aug. 6 primary
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