Rogers says inroads with Black and Jewish voters will help him beat El-Sayed

Michigan Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers said he's been successful reaching out to traditional Democratic constituencies wary of his progressive opponent Abdul El-Sayed and tried to distance himself from President Donald Trump over tariffs and the economy in an interview with ABC News Live that airs Tuesday. 

Rogers is locked in a critical race for Michigan's open Senate seat that could determine control of the Senate in the next Congress.

A Fox News poll conducted in late September found the race essentially tied among likely voters, with El-Sayed at 50% and Rogers at 49%, well within the poll's margin of error.

Reaching out for crossover votes

Amidst concerns about turnout for El-Sayed among traditional Democratic constituencies like Black and Jewish voters, Rogers sees an opening for crossover votes.

He told ABC News Live anchor Linsey Davis that there's "an opportunity ... with Jewish Democrat voters, African Americans in Detroit and Pontiac and Brooklyn."

"We are going into what would normally be traditional Democrat coalitions, and we're getting such a great response. I think that's why we're going to win, and that's what's different," he said.

There is no polling to determine if Rogers is making gains in those coalitions.

Former President Barack Obama is headed to Detroit on Saturday to campaign with El-Sayed and former Vice President Kamala Harris appeared with him earlier in the campaign. 

Convincing Trump on new policy

When asked whether he agreed with the president's self assessment that he had done an "A++" job on the economy, Rogers did not directly answer the question, saying, "I am really worried. People are so frustrated. They're frustrated about prices. They're frustrated about inflation."

He argued that he would be able to effectively influence the president on economic policy.

"I'm going to be able to go in, sit down, talk to him about the things that work for Michigan."

Defending off-duty police officers as poll-watchers

Earlier this year, Rogers said "Let's put retired or off-duty police officers as our poll-watchers in Detroit. Go ahead, try to intimidate them."

He defended his statement to ABC News, saying, "I don't know how having a poll-watcher, which we've had for decades in the state, would discourage anyone from voting. I certainly would not encourage them to be discouraged in voting. I want it easy to vote, hard to cheat. That's it."

Rogers has previously called into doubt the results of his 2024 loss to Democratic Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin despite there being no evidence of wrongdoing or fraud in that race. 

Canadian tariffs are 'problematic'

In the closing weeks of the race, Rogers has made efforts to distance himself from Trump by breaking with a couple of his policies, including the Iran war and tariffs on goods from Canada, which shares a border with Michigan.

"This new round of Canadian tariffs are problematic for us here in the state," Rogers said, citing the two countries' "integrated" auto industries. 

"The Jeep Cherokee will go across the bridge between Canada and the United States about a dozen times before it's been built," Rogers told Davis.

"Let's get the Canadian deal done, or settled, or postponed, or let's negotiate, but don't put the tariffs on right now with all the other things, all the struggles that we have going on," he added.

According to a study by the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, Michigan households are seeing an average additional cost of $5,600 due to tariffs since January 2025, the most of any state.

Defends connecting El-Sayed to terrorism

Rogers told CBS News last week to "look at the data -- it's pretty clear" when asked if he believed that El-Sayed was a terrorist.

Asked about that exchange and whether he believes El-Sayed is a terrorist, Rogers dodged the question, telling Davis, "It's not about how you pray, it is not about any of that. It is about how you think, it's about what your ideology is."

El-Sayed has denied any ties to terrorism and called those characterizations Islamophobic.

'Misconception' that he's a Washington insider

When asked what's the biggest misconception about him, Rogers said that it was that he was a "Washington insider," adding, "I've been out of Congress for 10 years in the private sector, working in the cybersecurity sector. I think that's the biggest misperception."

Rogers represented Michigan in the House for seven terms, including as chair of the House Intelligence Committee. 

Fair criticism 

When asked what the fairest criticism was of him, Rogers replied "I love my wife too much." 

His wife Kristi, joining the interview, said that when Rogers "says he's going to do something, he does it."