Michigan – Candidates for the US Senate
Michigan – Candidates for the US Senate
Michigan voters will choose from a large field of two Democrats and four Republicans in the August 6 Senate primary. Three-term U.S. Representative Elissa Slotkin is running against actor and businessman Frank Eugene (Hill) Harper. Republican candidates Justin Amash, a former five-term U.S. Congressman who represented Grand Rapids, Sherry O’Donnell, a doctor from western Michigan, businessman Sandy Pensler and Mike Rogers, a former U.S. Congressman and national security commentator, are seeking to advance to the general election.
Democratic Candidates
Hill Harper, Democrat
Frank Eugene (Hill) Harper, an actor, author and businessman, has starred in the television series “The Good Doctor” and “CSI:NY” and is perhaps best known as a classmate of former President Barack Obama at Harvard Law School. Harper, who moved to Detroit and owns a coffee shop there, is making his first foray into state politics by making the argument that Michigan needs black representation in the Senate and that it is necessary to break with the politics of the past. He is backed by some heavyweights, including Wayne County Executive Warren Evans.
While Harper is trying to reach out to voters across the state, his campaign is largely focused on motivating Detroit’s large bloc of black voters to support him. To that end, he has taken a progressive stance, arguing that Democrats and the Biden administration must demand an immediate ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and calling for universal health care. He has also said he would vote to end the filibuster tactic.
Elissa Slotkin, Democrat
Slotkin, of Holly in northern Oakland County, has an impressive resume, to say the least: After serving as an intelligence officer under two presidents and three tours in Iraq, she served as acting undersecretary of defense under former President Barack Obama. Then she ran for a previously solidly Republican Michigan district outside Detroit in 2018, winning three close elections in districts that had voted for Republican former President Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020.
Slotkin, a formidable fundraiser and the only Jewish member of Michigan’s congressional delegation, is also a tireless campaigner and leaves little to chance. She continues to present herself as a more moderate, independent Democrat. She usually votes with her party but also breaks with it a little more often than most. She is known for her appearances on television and is a sought-after voice on national security and foreign policy issues. She, too, has called for a ceasefire in Gaza but has also defended Israel’s right to crush Hamas after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. She has fought for abortion rights and access to health care, though she does not support eliminating private insurers but wants a Medicare-like public option to compete with them.
Read more about Harper and Slotkin here:
https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2023/07/10/actor-hill-harper-michigan-open-us-senate-seat/70395515007/
https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/05/30/as-democrats-vie-for-us-senate-nomination-slotkin-dominates-field/73804976007/
Republican candidates
Justin Amash, Republican
Amash, a constitutional lawyer from Cascade Charter Township in western Michigan, has always been a prominent political figure. In 2010, he was elected as a Republican to a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in Grand Rapids as part of the Tea Party movement. He served five two-year terms and established himself as a principled conservative who generally refused to vote with his party if its position did not align with his beliefs that the federal government should be limited to enable the free market and that Congress should not allow party leaders to stifle debate.
He left the Republican Party and became an independent after breaking with former President Donald Trump, whom he considered unprincipled, and voted to impeach Trump for asking Ukraine for help in digging up incriminating material on President Joe Biden. In 2020, Amash decided not to run for re-election, flirted with the presidential nomination as a Libertarian, then entered the Republican Senate race earlier this year. With Trump at the helm of the party, he will have a hard time convincing Republican voters, but he argues he is the true conservative choice in the race.
Sherry O’Donnell, Republican
O’Donnell, a physician from western Michigan, has spent her entire career running a nonprofit clinic in Niles and working as a disaster doctor in 35 countries. Two years ago, she tried to enter politics by challenging Republican Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Tipton) and losing to him in the Republican primary. Now an outside candidate for the Republican nomination for the state’s open Senate seat, she is trying to make up for her lack of financial resources by canvassing at the grassroots level.
O’Donnell emphasizes her experience as a doctor fighting COVID-19 in New York City and her belief that the government misled the public about measures to contain the spread and the need for closures. She also cites her Christian faith, continues to advocate for term limits and is a staunch opponent of abortion, although she believes the issue should be left to the states.
Sandy Pensler, Republican
Pensler is seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Michigan for the second time after unsuccessfully running against John James in 2018 to face U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow. A millionaire businessman from Grosse Pointe, Pensler holds degrees in chemical engineering and economics from Yale and a law degree from Harvard, founded his own investment firm and owns Korex, a company that makes household cleaning products.
In that race, Pensler has shown himself willing to spend much of his largely self-funded campaign attacking the presumptive Republican frontrunner, former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, and sharply questioning his record. Pensler has also argued that America is “burning” under President Joe Biden and has lost its “moral compass.” Like the other Republican candidates, he has rebuked Democrats for allowing large numbers of illegal immigrants to come across the southern border; he has also said he would protect women’s sports, presumably from transgender athletes.
Mike Rogers, Republican
Rogers is a former congressman from Michigan who served from 2001 to 2015. During his time in office, he established himself as a serious conservative and a reliable centrist Republican voter, albeit one willing to work with Democrats, particularly as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Rogers, a former FBI agent, is considered a pragmatic rather than ideological Republican and has become a sought-after commentator on national security and intelligence issues.
After leaving Congress, he worked for CNN and in cybersecurity. He left Michigan but returned to Brighton when the Senate seat became vacant. In the past, he has been critical of former President Donald Trump, particularly his attempts to overturn the 2020 election won by President Joe Biden. But Rogers now supports Trump because he believes he was a far better president than Biden and both enjoy each other’s support. Rogers claims he is “ready to serve” and can build coalitions from day one in office. He also says he is running to curb inflation, secure the southern border and fend off the economic threat posed by an ambitious Chinese government.
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