At a campaign stop Thursday meant to boost Republican candidates in several tight Michigan races, Vice President JD Vance spent most of his time discussing the U.S. Senate race.
Both major parties see the open seat as key to winning control of Congress during this year’s midterm election. Former Republican Congressman Mike Rogers is up against Democratic nominee and former public health official Abdul El-Sayed.
In Monroe on Thursday, Rogers highlighted what he sees as some of the most important issues in the race.
“We’re going to get our kids reading at grade level again. We’re going to make housing more affordable so every Michigander can achieve the American dream. We’re going to bring back those 200,000 manufacturing jobs that the Democrats chased out of our state and overseas,” Rogers said in a speech.
If Vance was deep on rhetoric, the speeches leading up to his address were the heaviest on policy.
Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp.) announced he wants to “eliminate the state property tax,” a step further than Hall’s previously announced plans.
Republican nominees for secretary of state, attorney general and lieutenant governor laid out their own visions for office. And in what was almost the longest speech of the afternoon, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Director Dr. Mehmet Oz discussed issues facing his agency.
Though introductory speeches discussed policy, Republicans still spent a lot of the afternoon criticizing their Democratic opponents.
Vance especially targeted El-Sayed, calling him a “weasel” and spending about half his speech attacking his viewpoints and background. Vance said Rogers would be the best person to represent all Michiganders.
“You’re not going to always agree with him on every issue. But he’s a person who knows his job is to fight for you every single day. On the flip side, you have one of the worst people running in the history of the United States of America,” Vance said.
In various ways, speakers framed the election as a choice between “common sense” and “crazy.” That’s been a common word choice since many Democrats won nominations campaigning on progressive ideas like Medicare for All.
Vance said Michigan was being tested.
“The far left, the radicals of the Democratic Party, they're on the ascent. This is not my papaw's Democratic Party. This is not the party of JFK. It's not the party of Franklin Roosevelt. It's not even the party of Bill Clinton,” Vance said.
For El-Sayed, however, Vance, Rogers and others went a step further and tried to connect him specifically to terrorist groups. Rogers continued a line of attacks from a debate last week.
El-Sayed, a Michigan-born and raised son of Egyptian immigrants, has called the claims unserious and ridiculous.
While speaking at a campaign rally in Marquette Thursday night, El-Sayed responded to Vance’s insults.
“When you’ve got a name like mine you see the best of us, and too often sometimes you see the worst of us. And there are always a few very loud people who are small and want to make us small like them,” El-Sayed said.
El-Sayed and other Democrats have accused Rogers of being a “puppet” for President Donald Trump. During a Michigan Democratic Party press conference ahead of Vance's visit, members accused Republicans of making life harder for Michiganders by cutting the social safety net and starting a war with Iran and a trade war with Canada.
Michigan House Minority Leader Ranjeev Puri (D-Canton) said he doesn’t think it’s “rocket science” why the pendulum could swing back to the left this election.
“I think you had an administration that won an election in November of 2024 predicated on a very economic-centric agenda and they’ve failed to do that. If anything, prices have gone up holistically across the board, whether it’s gas and groceries or health care or childcare. Nothing has been done to bring that down,” Puri said.
In recent months, Rogers, Republican gubernatorial nominee John James and other Republicans running for higher office have denounced the Canadian tariffs and called for the war in Iran to end.
Vance discussed neither topic Thursday.
This story is part of a series previewing major local races in the 2026 midterm elections. Click here for more of WEMU's local election coverage.
Non-commercial, fact based reporting is made possible by your financial support. Make your donation to WEMU today to keep your community NPR station thriving.
Like 89.1 WEMU on Facebook and follow us on X (Twitter).
Contact WEMU News at 734.487.3363 or email us at studio@wemu.org.
