Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin and Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers faced off in a second debate on Monday as they compete for retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s seat in Michigan.
During the debate, the candidates addressed abortion, transgender athletes playing on women’s and girls’ sports teams, electric vehicles, border security, gun regulations and former President Donald Trump.
Rogers, who was endorsed by Trump earlier this year and often appears at campaign events with the former president, did not bring up the GOP nominee on Monday night, just as he did not in last week’s debate.
However, Slotkin linked Rogers with Trump in an effort to portray the former congressman as corrupted by the former president and his rhetoric.
“The 2014 Mike Rogers was happy to be bipartisan. The 2024 Mike Rogers, just couple weeks ago, said he’s worried about, quote, ‘shenanigans,’ in our voting systems in Southeast Michigan, which we know what that means. He sits next to Mr. Trump as he spreads misinformation and disinformation, our democracy has to be sacred, and I want the 2014 Mike Rogers back,” she said.
She also brought up earlier in the debate that Betsy DeVos, who served in Trump’s administration, is a donor to her opponent, and implied that Rogers’s education policy is shaped by the former education secretary.
