Nathan Layne, Reuters

September 26, 2026 6:04 AM EDT

LIVONIA, Michigan, Sept 26 (Reuters) – The pitch was simple: Republican US Senate candidate Mike Rogers is a common-sense conservative, while Democratic rival Abdul El-Sayed is a big-government socialist aligned with the party’s left wing. 

But when a canvasser backing Rogers delivered that message to Nick Delise, a three-time Donald Trump voter in suburban Detroit, he encountered some skepticism. Though Delise said he would probably vote for Rogers, he rejected the notion that Democrats were controlled by the far left, saying the party was focused on practical solutions to voters’ problems. 

The exchange offered a first-hand look at a strategy Republicans are deploying in Michigan and other battleground states: to portray Democrats as ideological extremists who have moved too far to the left, while turning out less-engaged supporters needed to keep their congressional majorities in November. 

Reuters accompanied door-knockers with Americans for Prosperity Action, the super PAC arm of the conservative network backed by billionaire Charles Koch, in the city of Livonia last week as they sought to mobilize voters for Rogers in the tightly contested race. 

The conversations highlighted both the appeal and limits of Republican messaging. With many Americans unhappy with President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy and the war in Iran, Republicans have been struggling to find messages that will get voters struggling with the high cost of living to the polls on Election Day.

Delise, 32, had appeared an ideal audience for the pitch. An American flag hung from the porch of his modest, single-story home, two pickup trucks sat in the driveway and a pro-police “Thin Blue Line” banner was displayed in the garage. 

He acknowledged he knew little about the candidates and typically skips midterm elections, while attributing his conservative leanings to the influence of relatives in law enforcement. He complained about the cost of fueling his trucks. 

“I’m not hardcore like I have to vote Republican,” Delise told Reuters in a follow-up interview, adding that he had not ruled out backing a Democrat if he decides to vote. “I’d be open. I’m not saying there’s not a chance.” 

To be sure, many people canvassers encountered were already in Rogers’ camp, making the conversations less about persuasion than turnout. One Trump supporter in her 50s said she and two family members had already committed to Rogers, while a middle-aged man chatting in a neighbor’s yard said he would back Rogers to thwart what he described as a socialist turn by Democrats. 

Trump and his allies have sought to capitalize on recent primary victories by some left-leaning Democrats like El-Sayed to argue that the party is veering toward socialism and poses a threat to the country, a claim Democratic leaders dismiss as false and fearmongering. At the same time, Trump has called on his party to put him at the center of their election efforts to excite his base, despite his growing unpopularity. 

A Republican couple in their 80s illustrated a potential weakness in the Trump-centric turnout strategy. While the wife said she would vote for Rogers, her husband said dissatisfaction with the president had left him unsure whether he could back the Republican Senate nominee. A canvasser sought to redirect the conversation to policy differences and away from Trump. 

“People aren’t super happy with the situation in the world right now,” Tim Golding, senior adviser to AFP Action in Michigan, said in an interview. “But we try to pivot off that conversation and go back to the policies and the agenda that our candidates have, and not have a conversation about Trump as best we can.” 

ENTHUSIASM GAP 

With Trump posting weak approval ratings and not on the ballot, Republicans must mobilize supporters who might otherwise skip the midterms, when turnout typically falls by more than 10 percentage points from presidential-election levels. That historic trend is raising the stakes for the Republicans’ national door-knocking and other get-out-the-vote efforts this election. 

Democrats appear more energized, with 42% of self-described Democrats saying they are “very enthusiastic” about voting, compared with 28% of Republican voters, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll. 

In Michigan, concerns about an enthusiasm gap recently spilled into public view when a Republican working with the Rogers campaign complained about a lack of energy among volunteers for door-knocking and other activities. 

“The vibes on the ground are the worst I’ve seen in my life,” Jackson Karki, a college student who had been helping the campaign organize several northern counties, posted to X last week. “No one wants to promote candidates, no one wants to knock doors, no one wants to do shit.” 

Other Republicans dispute that characterization. In Oakland County, one of Michigan’s most important battlegrounds and home to more than 1 million registered voters, Republican Party Chair Vance Patrick said volunteer enthusiasm remains strong. 

In an interview, he said Trump was set to visit the state twice before the election on November 3, which he predicted would further encourage volunteers and boost turnout. County party organizations like Patrick’s have grown more important in Michigan as the state Republican Party’s operations have weakened in recent years. 

Patrick said the county’s top targets include roughly 20,000 Jewish voters, a key constituency for Rogers given El-Sayed’s opposition to military aid for Israel and his characterization of Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide. It is also chasing 38,000 so-called sleeping giants – infrequent voters who they believe would back Rogers if persuaded to cast a ballot. 

MICHIGAN A CASE STUDY OF NATIONAL EFFORT 

Including AFP and other outside groups, Rogers’ campaign plans to knock on six million to eight million doors by Election Day, according to a person familiar with the matter, roughly double the 2024 total, when he lost the Senate race by 19,000 votes. 

The effort reflects the scale of the Republican turnout strategy nationally, where campaigns and allied groups are investing heavily in door-knocking and other voter-targeting operations amid concerns about voter enthusiasm. 

Republicans hold a $637 million cash lead nationally over Democrats across super PACs and party committees, dwarfing Democrats’ edge in candidate fundraising and potentially helping fund a more expansive turnout operation, said Brendan Glavin, OpenSecrets’ director of insights. 

Yet Democrats say money alone will not decide the race. The Michigan Democratic Party says its active volunteer ranks have grown by 267% since the primary as the party has rallied behind El-Sayed. 

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel said Democrats will knock on 1.4 million doors in the campaign’s final four weeks, arguing the effort will blunt Republican attempts to shift focus away from kitchen-table issues. 

They are counting on voters like one resident in his 20s who answered the door in Livonia and, when asked whom he planned to vote for, replied simply, “Not Mike Rogers,” before closing it. 

Reporting by Nathan Layne in Livonia, Michigan, editing by Ross Colvin and Alistair Bell

LANSING, MI – Americans for Prosperity Action (AFP Action) is calling out Kamala Harris’ visit to Michigan today, where she is campaigning for Abdul El-Sayed and tying herself directly to his DSA-aligned agenda. El-Sayed has longstanding ties to progressive and democratic socialist activists, including DSA members who mobilized to secure his primary win, and Harris’ decision to campaign at his side only underscores how closely the two are aligned on government-run health care, higher taxes, and reckless spending.

AFP Action Senior Advisor for Michigan Tim Golding issued the following statement:

“Kamala Harris is a failed presidential candidate whose big-government agenda as vice president already left Americans worse off — and voters rejected it at the ballot box. Now she’s campaigning for Abdul El-Sayed, whose agenda doesn’t just repeat those failures — it goes even further: government-run health care, restrictions on American energy, higher taxes, and trillions in new spending. Michigan families would be the ones left paying for policies voters have already rejected once before.

“El-Sayed’s longstanding ties to the DSA and alignment with its policy priorities tell their own story, and Harris campaigning at his side only shows how tightly national Democrats have wrapped themselves around his agenda. That’s not a credential Michigan should welcome — it’s a warning.

“Mike Rogers is offering a different approach: expanding American energy production, increasing competition in health care, opposing tax increases and runaway spending, supporting law enforcement, and strengthening border security.

“AFP Action will continue making the case to Michigan voters about the stark policy differences in this race and why Mike Rogers is the right candidate to move Michigan forward.”

LANSING, MI – Americans for Prosperity Action Senior Advisor for Michigan Tim Golding released the following statement regarding FOX 2’s September 15 U.S. Senate debate:

“Abdul El-Sayed’s agenda makes life in Michigan more expensive: a government takeover of health care, mandates that raise the cost of heating a Michigan home, and more federal spending on top of the spending that drove prices up to begin with.

“Mike Rogers would bring those costs down — unlock American energy so utility bills fall, make tax relief permanent, and cut the regulations consumers pay for at the register.

“Michiganders deserve to hear that argued out. Rogers has committed to two televised debates this October, in both of Michigan’s major media markets. El-Sayed doesn’t want a debate. He wants this one, at a station that set its own deadline and spent two weeks promoting an empty podium as television.”

Lansing, MI – As reported in the Detroit News, Americans for Prosperity Action (AFP Action) launched new creative in its $1.425 million digital and streaming campaign in support of Mike Rogers for U.S. Senate, bringing AFP Action’s total investment in Michigan to more than $9 million this cycle. The new ads, “Laser Focused” and “Expensive,” draw a sharp contrast between two distinct paths for Michigan: Rogers’ common-sense record of fiscal discipline and independent leadership, and Abdul El-Sayed’s radical socialist agenda that would drive costs even higher for Michigan families.

AFP Action Senior Advisor Tim Golding said the following:

“Michigan families are paying more for everything from groceries to gas, and Abdul El-Sayed’s answer is more government, more spending, and more of your paycheck. His socialist agenda of government-run healthcare and higher taxes would make life more expensive for the very people he claims to fight for.

“Mike Rogers is laser focused on the common-sense solutions it takes to grow Michigan’s economy — lower taxes, cheaper energy, and fewer Washington mandates on the businesses that employ Michiganders. He’s the voice that Michigan families need in the Senate.”

Click here to watch AFP Action’s ads:

Laser Focused | :30

Expensive | :30

LANSING, MI — Americans for Prosperity Action (AFP Action) is setting the record straight as Abdul El-Sayed holds a town hall in Lansing tomorrow. No amount of campaign rebranding can hide the fact that El-Sayed and the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) are working hand-in-hand to force a radical, dangerous agenda on Michigan residents. 

El-Sayed and the DSA have been marching in lockstep for years. The DSA mobilized resources to deliver El-Sayed his primary victory, and he has attended and headlined DSA events as far back as 2017. Now, weeks before Election Day, El-Sayed is attempting to distance himself from his socialist base. But his record, his rhetoric, and his political allies tell the real story.

AFP Action Advisor for Michigan Tim Golding issued the following statement: 

“Abdul El-Sayed and the Democratic Socialists of America are pushing the exact same dangerous agenda: a government takeover of health care, the elimination of American fossil fuels that would send energy bills soaring, massive tax increases on working families, and trillions in reckless new spending. Every piece of it has been tried, and every piece of it has failed.

“El-Sayed may claim he is ‘not technically DSA’ when the cameras are on, but their shared record proves otherwise. The DSA is his ground game, his fundraising machine, and his ideological partner. And their agenda doesn’t stop at your wallet. It means defunding the police, open borders, abolishing immigration enforcement, and shouting down anyone who dares disagree.

“Mike Rogers is the only candidate in this race standing against this radical alliance. He’ll lower energy costs by unleashing American production, restore competition in health care so patients choose their own doctors, and stop the tax hikes and runaway spending driving prices up — and he’ll stand with law enforcement, secure the border, and defend free speech instead of policing it.

“Americans for Prosperity Action will continue to make the case that the Democratic Socialist platform is not compatible with the American system, and Abdul El-Sayed is not compatible with Michigan.”

OAKLAND COUNTY, MI – Today, Abdul El-Sayed will kick off a 7-stop, “Shouldn’t Be This Hard” tour to sell Michiganders on his far-left, tax and spend vision for America.

AFP Action senior advisor Tim Golding released the following statement in response:

“El-Sayed is right that it ‘shouldn’t be this hard,’ but he doesn’t seem to understand that his policy agenda would just make things even harder for Michiganders. Families and small business owners across the state are struggling with high costs, and the only way to bring costs down is to get government out of the way. Electing Mike Rogers to the U.S. Senate is the best way to lower the cost of living, protect from Washington overreach and ensure that things won’t be ‘this hard’ and will actually get better for hardworking Michiganders.”

LANSING, MI — AFP Action today responds to the Michigan Democratic Convention, where state Democrats gather to prop up an agenda built on a wealth tax, a government takeover of health care, and greater Washington control over Michigan families’ lives.

AFP Action Senior Advisor Tim Golding released the following statement:

“While Michigan Democrats convene to prop up their radical socialist agenda, Michigan families are still waiting for answers on how they’re going to afford their grocery bills, their energy costs, and their healthcare.

“Make no mistake about what that agenda is: Abdul El-Sayed wants higher capital gains, payroll, income, and death taxes. He wants Medicare for All — a government takeover of health care that ends the private coverage millions of Michiganders get through their jobs. He spent years championing the Green New Deal, and now that utility bills are squeezing families, he won’t defend it. He’s called for abolishing ICE outright. That isn’t a Michigan plan, it’s a ridiculous and radical wish list that our state can’t afford.

“Electing Mike Rogers to the U.S. Senate is the only way to lower the cost of living, protect Michigan from Washington overreach, and expand opportunity for our hardworking families. AFP Action will continue fighting for candidates that will lower taxes, expand affordable energy, and protect the individual freedoms that Michigan’s working families deserve.”