Republicans in Michigan Senate race thin out as party must rally around former Rep. Mike Rogers

GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan (AP) — Detroit-area businessman Sandy Pensler has dropped out of the Republican race for Michigan’s Senate seat just before the state’s primary and is now supporting former U.S. Rep. Michael Rogers for the party’s nomination.

Pensler made the announcement at Donald Trump’s rally in Grand Rapids on Saturday after being called to the stage by the former president. Trump endorsed Rogers earlier this year and many in the party have begun to rally around Rogers, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 14 years and chaired the House Intelligence Committee.

“We need control of the Senate,” Pensler said on stage. “A continued, divisive primary reduces the chances of that.”

“President Trump endorsed Mike Rogers,” he added. “Tonight, I do, too.”

Pensler was considered a candidate with little chance of winning, as he had already lost the Republican primary for the Senate in 2018 by more than 9 percentage points to current U.S. Representative John James, who in turn lost to the incumbent Democratic Senator. Debbie Stabenow.

Stabenow announced her retirement next year, leaving one of the most hotly contested seats in the country vacant.

With Pensler withdrawing his candidacy, Rogers’ only prominent opponent is Justin Amash, a former U.S. representative who left the Republican Party in 2019 after calling for the impeachment of then-President Trump. Amash represented Grand Rapids from 2011 to 2021.

The Democrats have rallied around the congressman. Elissa Slotkin as her candidate. In the primary on August 6, she will face actor Hill Harper, but has a massive financial advantage.

Republicans at the national level had hoped Rogers would have a similarly easy path to his party’s nomination. But the campaigns of former U.S. representatives … Amash and Peter Meijer, the ended his bid Earlier this year, his job became a little more complicated.

Trump’s endorsement in March of Rogers – who had been critical of Trump in the past before changing his mind during the Senate race – has pushed many other Republican candidates out of the race.

Despite the turbulence within the Democratic Party regarding its top candidates, the party has not lost a Senate race since 1994 and Exceeded expectations in the last election in Michigan.