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Mike Rogers makes campaign stop in Marquette

MARQUETTE -- Republican Senatorial candidate Mike Rogers visited Marquette Thursday morning as part of a longer campaign bus tour of the Upper Peninsula.

The event was held at the Honorable Distillery in downtown Marquette, and attracted a crowd of a few dozen supporters.

"Mike's out there kicking butts, telling the truth, being honest, fighting for our country, fighting for our values," state Sen. Ed McBroom, R-Waucedah Township, said in an introductory address to the crowd.

"There couldn't be more of a contract between two human beings than my husband, Mike Rogers, and that other guy," said Kristi Rogers, speaking about Democratic senatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed. "Couldn't be more of a contrast.

"Mike believes in education. (He) wants to make certain our kids get reading again. He believes in this country. Not certain about the other guy (El-Sayed).

"…Who else would we want in the ... senate representing us, but a former FBI agent, former army officer, former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, who loves America?

"It's about ... time we have a senator from this great state that actually cares about Michigan."

Mike Rogers, fresh off of Wednesday night's debate against El-Sayed in Detroit, spoke for approximately 10 minutes, focusing on issues like education, manufacturing jobs and coalition building.

"When my wife and I decided to do this again, we looked around the state and said 'Michigan's in trouble, and people are hurting,'" he said. "In the last 8 years, we've lost 27,000 manufacturing jobs. We have the highest utility rates in the Midwest. We have the highest auto insurance in the nation. Our education went from top tier -- we're now 45th in the county. Median wage has dropped $10,000 below the national average."

Rogers said that he would address these issues by promoting phonics-based literacy instruction and bringing industrial jobs back to Michigan.

"And then something really happened: August happened," he said, speaking about El-Sayed's victory in the Democratic primary. "This became a race that was bigger than Kristi and I. It became not a left or right issue, not a Republican or Democrat issue. It became an issue about who we want to be as Americans and what our future is, and the kind of message we want to send in Michigan about who we are and what we believe in."

Rogers went on to talk about his coalition building across the state, focusing specifically on attracting those who typically vote for Democratic candidates.

"We're going into these non-traditional Republican areas and having conversations about education and housing and what Republicans can do for our great cities," he said. "And man, is it working. This is how I know we were going to win a good chunk of Detroit:

"…We did four press conferences in a row ... and at the last one we did, we had a woman who followed us around to all the places in Detroit ... she was also in Flint.... Remember, and this is their words, we were down in the hood in Detroit. She said: I'm going to tell all my neighbors, you (Mike Rogers) are 100% gangsta.

"…We've connected with people in a way that, as conservatives, we have solutions, they just never got a chance to hear them."

He also spoke about receiving support from Jewish voters.

"We've done a lot of time here in the U.P. over the last 18 months," he said. "And we're coming back. I think there's a lot of attention that the U.P. needs to get that it hasn't gotten probably in 40 years, I'll be honest with you.

"And every Democrat senator comes up, they wave, and then you never hear from him again. Well guess what? We're gonna come see Aunt Barb more" (Kristi Rogers' Aunt Barb lives in Gladstone).

"…You know, there's two different styles. You can have big rallies, and they're very expensive to put on, and you stand on the stage, and you guys all hoot and holler and throw flowers at me." Here, Rogers seemed to be referencing the bus tour of the U.P. which El-Sayed undertook last week, which drew a crowd of nearly 2,000 in Marquette.

"Or we can come out and meet people where they are, which is what we've done for the last almost 2 years ... People are ready. They're fired up. They're gonna go vote. So if we do our part, man, we're gonna win this thing.

"And you'll get to say on Nov. 4 that you stood up for the America we want to pass to our kids, for family, for faith, for freedom."

After speaking, Rogers took photos with assembled supporters.

Early in-person voting begins Oct. 24. Election day is Nov. 3.

Annie Lippert can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 550. Her email address is alippert@miningjournal.net.