Republican Mike Rogers made his case for votes to small business leaders in Traverse City Friday, as the high-profile race for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat begins its final sprint to Election Day on Nov. 3.
The visit comes two days after debating his Democratic opponent Abdul El-Sayed for the second time this campaign cycle.
Rogers spoke at a campaign event for small business owners and local economic stakeholders hosted by the Northern Michigan Chamber Alliance. El-Sayed attended a similar event with the Chamber Alliance back in September.
Rogers has broken with President Donald Trump on some issues. He's spoken out against Trump’s tariffs on Canada and called for an end to the Iran war.
While speaking to reporters, Rogers did not rule out supporting a war powers resolution, an act of Congress to try and limit a president's ability to wage war. Multiple war powers resolutions to try and rein in Trump's military actions in Iran have failed to pass the U.S. House of Representatives in recent months.
“I believe that this [the Iran war] will be wrapped up before I take my oath of office in January. I do,” Rogers said. “If not, I'll take a look at what options we have to get it to a close.”
Rogers said he would support a return to a “containment policy” with regard to Iran.
“We had one under the first term that did actually allow oil to flow through… that would help with costs and prices and still meet the mission of making sure they don't have a nuclear weapon.”
El-Sayed said he would support a war powers resolution at Wednesday night’s debate.
Denise Pallarito came to show support for Rogers' campaign Friday and is an Otsego Lake Township trustee. She told WCMU she’s conflicted about the war.
“We know that we have to disarm the enemy, to ensure that the fight doesn't come to our homeland,” Pallarito said. “I hate the war, I hate the gas prices, but I also don't want Iran to have nuclear bombs,” she added.
At the event, Rogers reiterated his focus on improving the state’s poor education scores. Michigan ranks 44th in the nation for its fourth grade reading scores.
“If we can't get our kids reading at a great level, we are all in trouble,” Rogers said. Rogers also reenforced his pledge to put shop classes in high schools.
Polls show the race between Rogers and El-Sayed is in a dead heat. A recent poll from Marist puts El-Sayed up by two points, with 2% of voters still undecided.
“Our fastest growing coalition is Democrats for Rogers,” Rogers said after the event. “We've had really good engagement with African-Americans in Pontiac and Detroit and Flint.”
Still, Rogers sought to differentiate himself from Trump, who will be campaigning in Port Huron on Sunday.
“I mean, the president's not on the ballot. He talks to a certain segment of voters. I'm talking to… every segment of voters,” he said.
Terese Scavar, a Traverse City resident, came to the event to support Rogers. She said this midterm is “more important” than previous ones.
“I've never really gone out for the midterms to support anybody. So this is huge for me. I think for a lot of people it is,” Scavar said.
