Rogers courts Democrats in Michigan Senate race

Michigan Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers officially launched the “Democrats for Mike Rogers” coalition on Thursday, two months out from the general election.

Rogers made the announcement of the coalition at an event that featured a handful of Democrats including Michigan state Rep. Karen Whitsett (D).

“Michiganders are tired of anger and division, and I don’t think there’s a better representation of that than what you see standing here today,” Rogers said on Thursday.

“When the stakes are this high, you put your differences aside, you listen to each other, and you work together. That’s what Michigan needs now more than ever. This election is bigger than Republican versus Democrat, left versus right,” he added.

Rogers’s comments come as his opponent, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed leads in the polls across the Great Lakes State, as he pushes for Medicare for All and rejects ties to corporate PACs.

President Trump has endorsed Rogers, who was a former Republican lawmaker in the House. While serving in the lower chamber, he opposed abortion and pushed to end Affordable Care Act provisions.

Comparatively, El-Sayed is a doctor and has backed the Medicare for All initiative supported by progressives nationwide.

Whitsett said at the Thursday event that she would vote for the Republican nominee after falsely alleging that voters would lose access to healthcare if Medicare for All was implemented.

“I’m not standing here as a state representative. I’m not standing here as a Democrat or a Republican, because I’m neither. My bottom line is that I want people to start to understand you need to pick your candidate by your issue. Period,” Whisett said.

Under current Medicare for All proposals, private duplicate health insurance like Blue Cross and Blue Shield and Aetna would be phased out and replaced with automatic enrollment in a universal public government program instead.

“Once again, you say you don’t want the government in your business. Well, the government will be controlling your healthcare. They will control your doctors. They will control your medication. They will control your visits. They will control everything. So, if for no other reason, common sense prevails that Mike Rogers is the candidate for you,” she added.

El-Sayed’s campaign did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment regarding Rogers’s new democratic coalition.