With five candidates left in the running for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate, after Sandy Pensler recently dropped-out, voters from both parties will have to decide who’s best to fill the seat.
WKAR’s Melorie Begay spoke with WKAR-TV’s government and politics reporter Tim Skubick about the remaining candidates.
Full Transcript:
Melorie Begay: Let's start with the Republicans. There are three remaining GOP candidates left in the running: Mike Rogers, Dr. Sherry O'Donnell and Justin Amash. Who are they?
Tim Skubick: Three Republicans. One is basically pretty much unknown. The good doctor who is in the race, and she's gutting it out. This is, this is her first real attempt at statewide politics, which is an uphill climb.
Justin Amash, of course, he's the former Republican congressman from west Michigan, whose claim to fame was he voted to impeach Donald Trump, which sort of meant he was never going to get the Donald Trump endorsement, which of course, he did not get.
And of course, Mike Rogers is well known in the mid-Michigan area as a former Congressperson, and then went into the private sector did some work on CNN, and now he's back as the apparent front runner in this race. So, it's down to three. And we'll see what happens as voters now take over on August 6.
Begay: And as you mentioned, right, they're all Republicans. So they do share similar platforms. I'm curious, what are some of the key issues that each of these candidates are running on?
Skubick: Well, they’re basically running against the Democrats and really not against each other. And basically, what they're saying is that, you know, the Republicans have the answers when it comes to creating jobs, the number three issues in this race: immigration, inflation, and the economy. But not the democracy.
An interesting juxtaposition here as the Democrats are punching very, very hard against Republicans for allegedly trying to destroy the democracy. The Republicans are ignoring that and going after the Achilles’ heels of the Democrats on those three issues.
Begay: We're only days away from the primary now, who has the edge in this race?
Skubick: The popular wisdom, which please keep in mind is often wrong, is that Mike Rogers, this is his to lose. He does have Mr. Trump's endorsement, which is important in a Republican primary, although Mr. Trump's endorsement record in Michigan in recent years has not been that exemplary as people he has endorsed have not won. But they're hoping that that magic works on Mike Rogers.
Of course, the problem for him, the Trump endorsement is just gold in a primary, where only Republicans are out voting. But when you spread out and out into a general election where there are other people besides Republicans voting, it could become problematic for Mr. Rogers.
But first things first, he's pleased to have that endorsement. The other two people don't have as much money as Mr. Rogers has, which of course is important. So, at the end of the day, the media, which handicaps these things, perceive Mr. Rogers to be the front runner, and that's what it is.
Begay: Moving on to the Democrats, Elissa Slotkin and Hill Harper. What sets these candidates apart
Skubick: Money, name ID, and the ability to win. Slotkin was in this thing from the get-go almost as the ink was dry on the resignation statement from Debbie Stabenow and already Ms. Slotkin was running for the U.S. Senate.
Hill Harper, on the other hand, was late to the party. I mean he's in there fighting, but he doesn't have the same access to money. He doesn't have the points in the poll. And so again, the popular wisdom from the media standpoint, cautioning that everything is wrong and voters decide this stuff, is that Ms. Slotkin is the odds-on favor to win.
Begay: And what separates both Elissa Slotkin and Hill Harper on the issues?
Skubick: Well, the issue of whether you're a professional and long-term politician is the issue that Hill Harper is trying to harp on, if you'll pardon the pun. He basically is saying, look at I am not a career politician. I'm not in this to advance my career. I'm in this to help you. And I'm the common guy. In fact, he has said, if you elect me to the U.S. Senate, I will be the only African American there who is not a career politician and I will represent you.
So, he is criticizing Ms. Slotkin for her career, which is, some would argue, a career politician, although she's certainly been in bureaucracy. And she plays up the fact that she was in the CIA and she served in a war. And she thinks that this kind of experience, especially in the Senate, which is the world's greatest debating society, so they say, is something that's in her favor. So he's trying to knock her down on the point of being a career politician. She's trying to play that up and she basically for the most part, not said much about Hill Harper.
Begay: Tim Skubick covers politics and state government as host of WKAR-TV's Off the Record. Thank you for joining me today, Tim.
Skubick: Great to be with you, have fun. Enjoy!
This interview has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
