1-minute voter guide: Michigan's Senate race
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Abdul El-Sayed this week on Fox News. Photo: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images; Mike Rogers at the Republican National Committee midterm convention. Photo: Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images
Michigan's nationally watched U.S. Senate race pits rising progressive Abdul El-Sayed against Republican Mike Rogers, a former congressman making his second straight Senate run.
Why it matters: Michigan is one of a handful of battlegrounds that could determine control of the Senate, where Republicans hold a 53-47 majority.
Meet the candidates:
- El-Sayed, a former Detroit and Wayne County health director, narrowly defeated establishment-backed U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens after a bruising Democratic primary that drew more than $60 million in outside spending. He holds a medical degree but has never held a medical license in Michigan or New York, per Politico.
- Rogers, a former seven-term congressman and FBI agent, narrowly lost Michigan's 2024 Senate race to Democrat Elissa Slotkin. He previously chaired the House Intelligence Committee.
The fine print: Four other candidates also made the ballot: Libertarian Lydia Christensen, U.S. Taxpayers candidate Tim Long, Green Party candidate Douglas P. Marsh and Natural Law candidate Walter P. Kristy.
What's next: Election Day is Nov. 3. Absentee voting is underway and early voting begins by Oct. 24.