Michigan Senate Race Heats Up as GOP Pours $45M Into Mike Rogers Campaign

A national Republican super PAC is investing a record $45 million into Michigan's open U.S. Senate race to boost presumptive GOP nominee Mike Rogers, making the state the Republican party's top pickup opportunity in the 2026 midterm elections.

The Senate Leadership Fund, a super political action committee affiliated with Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota, announced Monday that it is dumping $45 million into Michigan's Senate race as an initial investment to help Rogers flip the seat from Democratic control. The group says this is the organization's largest and earliest ever investment in Michigan.

The early spending commitment ensures that the SLF can secure better rates and more TV inventory than it did in the 2024 cycle, when the group didn't jump in until September 30, just a month before the election. In 2024, Rogers, a former seven-term congressman from White Lake Township, narrowly lost to Democratic then-U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Holly by about 19,000 votes.

The ad reservations will begin in late August and cover Michigan's entire early-voting period, starting a month earlier than in 2024. That cycle, the Senate PAC spent a total of $34.33 million to help Rogers in Michigan after spending $17.75 million in Michigan in 2020 when GOP nominee John James lost to Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township.

The large and early investment by SLF this cycle is a nod of confidence in Rogers' team after he largely cleared the primary field and locked up President Donald Trump's endorsement last summer. The money is part of a $342 million national investment that SLF announced Monday in Senate battleground states.

"Senate Leadership Fund's historic investment is a testament to the strength of Mike Rogers and our commitment to flip Michigan red in November," SLF Executive Director Alex Latcham said in a statement.

The Michigan spending is the most among the GOP's top pickup opportunities by state, with the group also announcing $44 million for Georgia and $17 million for New Hampshire. SLF is also spending millions to defend Republican-held seats in Ohio ($79 million), North Carolina ($71 million), Maine ($42 million), Iowa ($29 million) and Alaska ($15 million).

Missing from the SLF list is Texas, which the group's executive director, Alex Latcham, told the New York Times that he didn't currently see as competitive.

SLF's Democratic counterpart, the Senate Majority PAC that's affiliated with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, said Republicans are pouring money into Michigan "because they see the writing on the wall."

"Without Trump on the ballot, Rogers needs every dollar he can get," Senate Majority PAC Press Secretary Christyna Thompson said Monday. "The GOP knows they've got a weak candidate who's already burned millions of their dollars last cycle. But none of that changes the math: Rogers is shackled to an out-of-touch agenda that's deeply unpopular with the voters they're trying to win."

Last cycle, the largest spending by outside groups in Michigan's race behind SLF was $23 million by WinSenate PAC — a group affiliated with Senate Democrats — followed by the pro-Rogers Great Lakes Conservatives Fund with about $21 million, according to OpenSecrets.

It remains unclear who Rogers will face in the November election. Prominent contenders in the Democratic primary contest include U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow of Royal Oak and former public health official Abdul El-Sayed of Ann Arbor.

More: Two Michigan Senate hopefuls have shunned corporate PAC money. One is raking it in Stevens led the fundraising among Democratic hopefuls last year; however, McMorrow announced Monday that she had raised over $3 million in the first three months of 2026, the largest quarterly haul to date.

SLF's commitment of $45 million in Michigan will cover broadcast, cable, streaming TV and radio airtime reservations, as well as data, direct mail, text messaging, field outreach, a ballot "chase" for unreturned absentee ballots and get-out-the-vote efforts, the Thune-affiliated group said Monday.

"Supporters are betting on Michigan because they know that Mike Rogers has what it takes to win and save our state," Rogers spokeswoman Alyssa Brouillet said in a statement.

Last month, the group Sentinel Action Fund said it would spend $15 million with an allied group, Right Vote, to boost Rogers — money that will reportedly go to advertising, voter outreach and early-vote operations across Michigan.

Slotkin spent about $50 million to Rogers' $13 million in the 2024 cycle, while outside groups poured in $143 million, according to OpenSecrets, an organization that tracks money in politics.

This year, national Republicans are more bullish on their chances of flipping a seat in Michigan. They note that the last time the GOP won a Senate race in Michigan, in 1994 — when former state Republican Party Chairman Spence Abraham defeated former Democratic U.S. Rep. Bob Carr — was also the last year the state held a protracted, competitive Democratic Senate primary.