A progressive backed group is working to organize Black voters against Republican U.S. Senate nominee Mike Rogers.
Members from the American Federation of Teachers, Detroit Action, and some Detroit elected officials held a press conference in the city Tuesday morning. Speakers accused Rogers of having a shaky relationship with the Black community, going back to his time in the state legislature.
American Federation of Teachers Michigan President Terrence Martin Sr. blamed Rogers for a 1999 law that created state management of Detroit’s majority Black school district. Rogers was majority floor leader in the Michigan Senate when the law passed.
“PA 10 helps to set in motion years of financial crisis, instability that harms students and made it harder for schools to provide the resources and reliable learning environments they deserve,” Martin Sr. said.
According to analysis from the Citizens Research Council of Michigan, the district spent much of its two decades under state control facing continued financial crises.
Outside of education, the teachers' group tried to tie Rogers to President Donald Trump and his signature One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Supporters of the federal law say it cuts taxes and adds necessary guardrails to social safety net programs. Opponents fear it could lead to millions of people across the country losing healthcare or food assistance benefits.
State Representative Tonya Myers Phillips (D-Detroit) said Rogers and Trump stand for the same things.
“Black people, we are not supporting Donald Trump. We are not. You might be able to find a few. But, for the most part, voters in the city of Detroit right here, our community has been devastated by Donald Trump’s policies — not only in the city of Detroit, no, the state of Michigan,” Myers Phillips said.
Rogers is running against Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed. The Rogers camp has been trying to build inroads after El-Sayed struggled in Detroit during his primary race.
Black voters have been a key Democratic voting bloc. But Rogers has been focusing on improving reading scores and making home ownership more accessible as part of his pitch -- priorities that his campaign hopes peel away some support from El-Sayed.
In a statement, Rogers campaign spokesperson Alyssa Brouillet accused El-Sayed’s supporters of getting desperate and blamed recent Democratic state leaders for Michigan's education slump, referring to a recent U.S. News and World Report ranking that put the state near the bottom of the country for education.
“Abdul’s 4th quarter theatrics don’t change the fact that he has a base problem. Detroiters are tired of Democrats taking them for granted. And while Abdul gives them slogans, Mike Rogers is showing up in Detroit with real solutions," Brouillet said.
"He will put phonics and shop class back in schools to set students up for success — after Democrat failures dropped us to 45th in the nation for education. He released a four-point plan for housing affordability so that you don’t have to wait until age 40 to buy your first house. And he will bring back good-paying manufacturing jobs. Mike Rogers has always and will always put Michigan first,” the statement read.
Underlying tensions between Black and Arab Americans in southeast Michigan could be a factor as both camps court the Black vote.
Lakia Wilson-Lumpkins, president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers, said Black voters shouldn’t take out frustrations on El-Sayed.
“We do not want to generalize that relationship, that poor relationship, and heap that onto Abdul El-Sayed. As Black folks, we hate to be generalized, stereotyped, discriminated against, and facing tropes,” Wilson-Lumpkins said.
A recently-debuted Rogers ad features Black voters saying they felt El-Sayed cared more about issues in Palestine than in Detroit, a claim El-Sayed has countered.
