Republican Mike Rogers maintains a polling advantage over his Democratic opponents duking it out in a messy primary for the open Michigan Senate seat.But the lead of the former Michigan congressman and Trump-backed presumptive GOP nominee remains within the margins of error in recent surveys, presenting a statistical dead heat for the battleground seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI).The polling edge comes as Rogers and the three Democratic contenders, former local health official Abdul el Sayed, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, and Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), ascend on Mackinac Island this week for Michigan’s annual Mackinac Policy Conference. The event draws current and former heavyweight politicos from across the country, including lawmakers, governors, and Cabinet officials.
It also comes as el Sayed’s support has surged among Democrats over the past several months, allowing him to lap his opponents in the most recent survey by double digits and draw fears from establishment-aligned figures that his more progressive stances could hurt their general election chances.
All four Senate candidates are slated to speak Thursday at the conference, and both parties are offering previews of the political rhetoric they plan to invoke.
