SAGINAW, Mich.—As Democrats try to wrest Senate control from the GOP, they must defend an open seat they’ve held since 1979, in a critical purple battleground state narrowly won by President Donald Trump in 2024.
Once considered part of the “blue wall” of states that voted for Democrats in every presidential election from 1992 to 2012, Michigan has earned its status as a purple battleground.
The state swung for Trump twice; Republicans have had a state government trifecta over a total of 14 years since 1992.
At the same time, Republicans haven’t won a U.S. Senate election in the Great Lakes State since 1994, and that was the first time in more than 20 years. Former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) ran and lost to Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) in 2024 with Trump at the top of the ticket. He’s trying again this year in a less favorable political environment without the president’s ballot boost….