Trump-backed Senate candidate says Democrat opponents would have jacked up taxes

Former Republican Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers’ Senate campaign rolled out its first digital campaign ad Friday hammering his Democratic opponents for opposing tax breaks.

The 60-second ad, first shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation, attacks the three Democratic Senate candidates for their opposition to dozens of tax benefits enacted in Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Rogers is expected to breeze through the primary due to President Donald Trump’s endorsement, allowing the Michigan Republican to go on offense against his opponents in the critical swing state while they are stuck in a messy primary fight.

“If the three Democratic Senate candidates have it their way, Congress would have voted for the largest tax increase in American history,” the ad’s narrator says.

The three Democratic candidates running to succeed retiring Democratic Michigan Sen. Gary Peters include: Rep. Haley Stevens, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and former public health official Abdul El-Sayed, who is endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

The three-way Democratic primary slated for August 2026 has no clear frontrunner. The candidates appear to be running to the left in an effort to win over the party’s base voters.

WATCH:

The 60-second spot reinforces Republicans’ messaging on the budget law that Trump signed into law in July. Rogers’ has also been touting the law’s tax provisions on the campaign trail.

“President Trump’s working family tax cuts are increasing your takehome pay by $10,000 a year,” the ad’s narrator also says. “But Abdul El-Sayed, Mallory McMorrow, and Haley Stevens wanted to rip that money from your wallet.”

Stevens notably joined nearly every Democrat in voting against the legislation, citing its reforms to Medicaid and federal nutrition assistance. McMorrow has referred to the law as a “big, bad disaster” and El-Sayed has argued it cut benefits to lower-income Americans to give tax breaks to the wealthy.

The digital ad spotlights popular tax benefits that Republicans extended or enacted for the first time to ease tax burdens on working Americans. Those provisions include the temporary elimination of taxes on tipped wages, overtime pay and automobile loan interest payments. The campaign ad also highlights a new bonus deduction for senior citizens and the extension of the child tax credit.

The Rogers’ campaign said the video is meant to reach low-propensity voters across the state.

Rogers came within 20,000 votes of winning his 2024 Senate bid and will need to turn out Republican voters in a midterm election year during which Trump’s name will not be on the ballot.

The ad comes as Rogers leads all three Democratic candidates in a hypothetical general election match-up, according to recent polling.

El-Sayed trails Rogers 31% to 45% with 24% of likely voters undecided. Rogers also bests McMorrow and Stevens by a seven-point margin.

The survey of 637 likely voters was conducted by Rosetta Stone Communications from Oct. 23 to Oct. 25. It has a margin of error of 3.88%.

Michigan’s open 2026 Senate race is viewed by Republicans as a prime flip opportunity to expand their 53-seat majority. Rogers has the backing of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, and the Senate Leadership Fund, a top GOP super PAC active in Senate races.

Rogers’ campaign reported $2.7 million at the end of the third fundraising quarter, which runs from July to September. That figure is more than Rogers’ first Senate campaign reported at any time during the 2024 cycle.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the contest as a “toss-up.”

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