Washington ― A national Democratic group said Thursday it intends to commit $20 million to TV reservations in Michigan this fall as an initial investment to help keep the state’s open U.S. Senate seat in Democratic hands.
Senate Majority PAC, a super political action committee affiliated with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, said the TV reservations ensure that Michigan voters will hear how Republican presumptive nominee Mike Rogers “backed Trump’s tariffs and supported stripping millions from Medicaid.”
SMP said the TV reservations will be complemented by an unspecified digital investment and begin airing this fall.
The spending ― which could be increased or canceled down the road ― is part of the flood of outside spending anticipated in one of the country’s most closely watched Senate contests this year.
In other competitive states, SMP previously announced plans to spend $46 million to boost Democrat Sherrod Brown in Ohio’s Senate race, $33.4 million in Maine, $31.4 million in North Carolina, $13.4 million in Iowa and $10.6 million in Alaska. All five of those states are held by Republicans and are targeted by Democrats to flip in November.
In Michigan, the GOP is bullish on Rogers prevailing in part due to the bruising primary playing out on the Democratic side among U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow of Royal Oak and former public health official Abdul El-Sayed of Ann Arbor.
National Republicans rank Michigan as a top pickup opportunity in the fall midterm elections. SMP’s counterpart, Senate Leadership Fund, last month announced $45 million in initial reservations to help Rogers.
While SMP’s $20 million reservation is just for TV, SLF’s commitment of $45 million in Michigan will cover broadcast, cable, streaming TV and radio airtime reservations, as well as data, direct mail, text messaging, field outreach, a ballot “chase” for unreturned absentee ballots and get-out-the-vote efforts, the Thune-affiliated group said last month.
Rogers, a former seven-term congressman from White Lake Township, narrowly lost the 2024 Senate race to Democratic then-U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Holly by about 19,000 votes.
That cycle, SLF spent a total of $34.33 million to help Rogers in Michigan, while WinSenate PAC ― a group affiliated with Senate Democrats ― dumped $23 million into the contest, followed by the pro-Rogers Great Lakes Conservatives Fund with about $21 million, according to OpenSecrets.
It remains unclear who Rogers will face in the November election to decide who will replace two-term U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, who is retiring.
mburke@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Democratic group to spend $20M to defend Michigan U.S. Senate seat
Reporting by Melissa Nann Burke, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
