NOVI, Mich. — When the Fox News Decision Desk called the race for president in favor of Donald Trump — a live broadcast that played out on two large projector screens at the Michigan GOP watch party — the room erupted. Hugs. Tears. A GOP advisor, making good on a bet, let Michigan GOP Chair Pete Hoekstra cut off his man bun.
Hours later at breakfast, the mood at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi had soured. Mike Rogers was losing to Elissa Slotkin in the race for U.S. Senate. Mid-afternoon on Wednesday, Decision Desk HQ projected Slotkin, a Democrat, as the winner, continuing a decades-long losing streak in the U.S. Senate for Republicans in Michigan.
Just after 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Rogers conceded.
“Congratulations to Congresswoman Slotkin on her victory, I wish her the best as she serves the people of Michigan in the Senate," Rogers said in a statement.
Read the full statement from Rogers at the bottom of this article
In the Great Lakes State, the Republican Party has not won a U.S. Senate race since 1994.
Slotkin, a current U.S. congresswoman, will replace Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who is retiring.
READ MORE: Elissa Slotkin projected to be next senator from Michigan
Rogers, a former state senator who also served seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, was attempting a return to politics after working in cybersecurity for several years.
"I thought I put politics behind me," Rogers said in a September 2023 video, announcing his candidacy. "But, like you, I know something's broken."
The conservative ran a campaign on gas and groceries, blaming both the Biden-Harris Administration and Slotkin for post-pandemic inflation.
Rogers also touted an endorsement from the Michigan Farm Bureau and rallied for Michigan's ever-important auto worker vote, believing a distaste for "EV mandates" would deliver him the victory.
"My wife and I have talked to so many people around this state, and they express the hurt and the pain that we are all going through from the last four years, the fundamental change of our automobile industry," Rogers said at the Michigan GOP watch party on Tuesday night.
When former president Donald Trump was declared president-elect shortly after midnight on Wednesday, FOX 17 asked Pete Hoekstra about the possibility of a Rogers defeat amid a Trump victory, a possibility that became a reality later that day.
"We'll do everything we can to beat them in an election, because we don't agree with their overall philosophy," Hoekstra said. "But in between elections, it's about governing. I would expect we would work with them."
“Congratulations to Congresswoman Slotkin on her victory, I wish her the best as she serves the people of Michigan in the Senate.
I am humbled and honored for the millions of Michiganders who embraced our campaign, shared their thoughts, their concerns, their ideas, and put their faith and trust in me to serve our great state as their U.S. Senator. I’m also proud to have run on the ticket with our President-elect, Donald J. Trump, and I have no doubt that he is going to help move Michigan and America forward.
Michigan will always be home, and serving our state has been the honor of my life. While it won’t be in the U.S. Senate right now, I will continue to serve Michigan now and into the future. Finally, I want to thank my partner in life and in this campaign, my wife Kristi, who has dedicated her life to service and was instrumental in helping us bring light to the issues that so many families are facing. She has been my rock and sacrificed to help bring needed change to Michigan.
Thank You, Michigan.”
