Jessica Mathews / Associated Press / news@whmi.com


Longtime former Republican Livingston County Congressman Mike Rogers is expected to soon announce a bid for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat.

That’s according to a report from the Associated Press, who cited three people familiar with the matter. An official announcement is said to be expected in the coming days.

Rogers graduated from Howell High School and represented Michigan's 8th District in Congress for 14 years before retiring. The former Army officer and FBI agent also led the House Intelligence Committee from 2011 to 2015.
Rogers would become the first prominent Republican in the state to announce a campaign more than eight months after longtime Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow announced that she would retire next year after her fourth term.

Rogers announcement could immediately make the race one of the most competitive in the country in 2024, when Republicans are looking to take control of the chamber from Democrats, who hold a slim 51-49 majority.

A bid also could be a boost for Michigan Republicans. The party has been in turmoil in recent years and has struggled to win statewide races. Democrats won races for governor, attorney general and secretary of state in last year’s midterms and clinched control of both state legislative chambers.

Livingston County’s Congresswoman, Democratic 7th District Representative Elissa Slotkin, announced back in February that she would be seeking the Senate seat. Slotkin has already secured a number of notable endorsements and was able to raise nearly $6 (m) million in the first four months of her campaign. Other Democrats also have joined the race, including actor Hill Harper.

Rogers, who made a name for himself during his time in Congress as a moderate Republican, is hoping that his over two decades in Michigan politics can help him become the first Republican to win a Senate race in the battleground state since 1994.

A former Marine and FBI agent, Rogers served eight years in the Michigan state Senate before representing mid-Michigan in Congress from 2001 to 2015. He was endorsed by the FBI Agents Association in 2017 to become the next FBI director before President Donald Trump chose Christopher Wray.

The 60-year-old Rogers had initially denied rumors he planned to run for Senate following Stabenow’s announcement and had indicated that he planned to run for president. His plans changed over the past several months as the Republican White House field grew crowded.

Defending the Michigan seat could prove crucial for Democrats in their effort to maintain the Senate, where the party faces tough headwinds as they defend seats in Republican-leaning states from West Virginia to Montana and Ohio.

Republicans have taken just one of Michigan’s last 15 Senate races, but the margin of victory for Democrats has shrunk every election since Democratic Sen. Carl Levin won reelection in 2008 by 29 percentage points. Democratic Sen. Gary Peters won reelection over GOP challenger John James by less than 2 percentage points in 2020, the closest race in over two decades.

Several other Michigan Republican candidates have announced campaigns for the seat, including state Board of Education member Nikki Snyder.