(at left) - Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers speaks during the annual meeting of the Western Michigan Patriots. Rogers ran for the Senate two years ago but lost to current Sen. Elissa Slotkin by a little more than 19,000 votes. (at right) - Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Leonard shares his vision for what he would like to accomplish if elected governor in his address to the Western Michigan Patriots.
By Greg Chandler
Zeeland Record
Two Republican candidates for major offices in Michigan brought their campaigns to Zeeland last week.
Mike Rogers, who is running for the U.S. Senate, and Tom Leonard, who is seeking the GOP nomination for governor, spoke Feb. 24 at the annual meeting of the Western Michigan Patriots, formerly known as the Ottawa County Patriots, at the Howard Miller Community Center.
Rogers, who is running for the Senate just two years after losing to Democrat Elissa Slotkin by a little more than 19,000 votes in the 2024 Senate election, met with employees of Frank’s Restaurant downtown prior to his appearance at the Western Michigan Patriots event.
While there are five total candidates running for the GOP nomination for Senate, Rogers is considered the prohibitive favorite for nomination. He is seeking the seat being vacated by current Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, who chose not to run for re-election after two six-year terms in the Senate. Rogers is attempting to become the first Republican to represent Michigan in the Senate since Spencer Abraham, who served from 1995 to 2001.
A native of Brighton, located halfway between Detroit and Lansing, Rogers served in the U.S. House for 14 years from 2001 to 2015. The last four years of his tenure, he chaired the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Before being elected to Congress, Rogers served in the state Senate for six years. A graduate of Adrian College and U.S. Army veteran, he is a former FBI special agent, having worked on cases involving organized crime and public corruption.
Rogers touted his ties to President Trump during his address, urging those in attendance to get involved in helping him get elected to help Republicans maintain their majority in the Senate.
“Now is the time that we have to step up and make sure that the executive orders that the president has had the courage to write, get legislated, so that if we happened to lose again … we’re ready to go,” Rogers said.
“We have a position of strength – closing the border, getting rid of the nonsensical environmental rules that were made by folks who want to make money off of that stuff, and not actually help people or the environment.”
Rogers also pointed out that the more than 2.69 million votes he received in the 2024 election was 300,000 more than any other Republican statewide candidate in the state had ever received.
“We got outspent 5-to-1, we had a primary till August that really screwed us up – but this is our chance to say we’re going to change this. We’re going to get our kids reading again. We’re going to get back to building things again,” he said.
Rogers has proposed several initiatives to address housing affordability. One of them is to expand the popular 529 savings accounts that have been used for education in Michigan to allow them to be used for downpayments on buying a house. Rogers helped craft the original law that created the 529 accounts as a state senator.
“One of the biggest hurdles for young folks is getting that 20 percent downpayment, which is why home ownership now happens at (age) 40,” he said.
Secondly, Rogers proposes that renters who are seeking to become homeowners have their on-time rental payments counted toward their credit history, resulting in lower interest rates.
Rogers also wants to see reform of regulations in the homebuilding industry, which he says adds to the price of every new home, making it that much more difficult for someone to afford.
“Every $1,000 they raise the price of a home today takes out 3,200 Michigan citizens that can’t afford to buy it,” he said.
A native of Montrose, a small community near Flint, Leonard served in the state House for six years from 2013 to 2019, serving as Speaker of the House in his last term (2017-19). In 2018, he won the Republican nomination for attorney general, but lost in the general election to current Attorney General Dana Nessel by 115,000 votes.
A year later, Leonard was nominated for U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan by President Trump, but his nomination was blocked by Peters and former Sen. Debbie Stabenow. Since 2020, he has been a partner and shareholder at the Plunkett Cooley law firm. He is a former prosecutor in Genesee County and was previously an assistant attorney general when Mike Cox served as attorney general.
Leonard is part of a crowded Republican candidate field that also includes Cox, current U.S. Rep. John James and state Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt. The Democratic race includes current Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson. Former Detroit mayor Mike Duggan is running as an independent.
“I believe Democrats gave Republicans two years ago a playbook for what happens when you wake up every day, and you’re void of a vision, and instead you’ve focused your hatred on one person – you lose,” Leonard said.
“You have to have a positive vision for this state … The challenges that Michigan faces are greater than any one person running for office. I don’t focus on Jocelyn Benson, I don’t focus on Gretchen Whitmer and I don’t focus on any of the (Republican) primary candidates right now. I focus on attacking problems every day. That’s what people want to see.”
Some of the major issues Leonard is focusing on in his campaign include affordable housing, mental health and improving the state’s performance in reading proficiency. He proposes license reciprocity as a way of addressing a shortage of skilled trades workers in the building industry.
“I wondered why my uncle, who was a journeyman electrician for 20 years in South Carolina, (when) he moved here, it took him six months to find a job – not because one wasn’t available, it was because the state made him jump through all the hoops to find one … If you’re in a skilled trade, if you’re certified and you move here and show us your certification from the state you came from, we will grant you certification immediately and put you to work,” Leonard said.
Before he became a prosecutor in Genesee County, Leonard clerked for a probate judge who started the state’s first mental health court. He proposes a public campaign to fight the stigma of mental illness, and is also calling for greater use of tele-mental health services.
“We can provide tele-mental health services to every teenager across the state – not just those in public schools, but those in private schools, homeschools, you name it, for just over $6 million,” Leonard said. “We can provide (the same services) to every single veteran age 45 and under for $750,000.”
Leonard also is pushing for improved mental health services in rural areas, particularly in the Upper Peninsula, which does not have a single psychiatric hospital bed.
Leonard is a graduate of the University of Michigan and has his law degree from Michigan State University.
Michigan’s primary election will be held Tuesday, Aug. 4, with the general election to take place on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Zeeland Record
Two Republican candidates for major offices in Michigan brought their campaigns to Zeeland last week.
Mike Rogers, who is running for the U.S. Senate, and Tom Leonard, who is seeking the GOP nomination for governor, spoke Feb. 24 at the annual meeting of the Western Michigan Patriots, formerly known as the Ottawa County Patriots, at the Howard Miller Community Center.
Rogers, who is running for the Senate just two years after losing to Democrat Elissa Slotkin by a little more than 19,000 votes in the 2024 Senate election, met with employees of Frank’s Restaurant downtown prior to his appearance at the Western Michigan Patriots event.
While there are five total candidates running for the GOP nomination for Senate, Rogers is considered the prohibitive favorite for nomination. He is seeking the seat being vacated by current Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, who chose not to run for re-election after two six-year terms in the Senate. Rogers is attempting to become the first Republican to represent Michigan in the Senate since Spencer Abraham, who served from 1995 to 2001.
A native of Brighton, located halfway between Detroit and Lansing, Rogers served in the U.S. House for 14 years from 2001 to 2015. The last four years of his tenure, he chaired the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Before being elected to Congress, Rogers served in the state Senate for six years. A graduate of Adrian College and U.S. Army veteran, he is a former FBI special agent, having worked on cases involving organized crime and public corruption.
Rogers touted his ties to President Trump during his address, urging those in attendance to get involved in helping him get elected to help Republicans maintain their majority in the Senate.
“Now is the time that we have to step up and make sure that the executive orders that the president has had the courage to write, get legislated, so that if we happened to lose again … we’re ready to go,” Rogers said.
“We have a position of strength – closing the border, getting rid of the nonsensical environmental rules that were made by folks who want to make money off of that stuff, and not actually help people or the environment.”
Rogers also pointed out that the more than 2.69 million votes he received in the 2024 election was 300,000 more than any other Republican statewide candidate in the state had ever received.
“We got outspent 5-to-1, we had a primary till August that really screwed us up – but this is our chance to say we’re going to change this. We’re going to get our kids reading again. We’re going to get back to building things again,” he said.
Rogers has proposed several initiatives to address housing affordability. One of them is to expand the popular 529 savings accounts that have been used for education in Michigan to allow them to be used for downpayments on buying a house. Rogers helped craft the original law that created the 529 accounts as a state senator.
“One of the biggest hurdles for young folks is getting that 20 percent downpayment, which is why home ownership now happens at (age) 40,” he said.
Secondly, Rogers proposes that renters who are seeking to become homeowners have their on-time rental payments counted toward their credit history, resulting in lower interest rates.
Rogers also wants to see reform of regulations in the homebuilding industry, which he says adds to the price of every new home, making it that much more difficult for someone to afford.
“Every $1,000 they raise the price of a home today takes out 3,200 Michigan citizens that can’t afford to buy it,” he said.
A native of Montrose, a small community near Flint, Leonard served in the state House for six years from 2013 to 2019, serving as Speaker of the House in his last term (2017-19). In 2018, he won the Republican nomination for attorney general, but lost in the general election to current Attorney General Dana Nessel by 115,000 votes.
A year later, Leonard was nominated for U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan by President Trump, but his nomination was blocked by Peters and former Sen. Debbie Stabenow. Since 2020, he has been a partner and shareholder at the Plunkett Cooley law firm. He is a former prosecutor in Genesee County and was previously an assistant attorney general when Mike Cox served as attorney general.
Leonard is part of a crowded Republican candidate field that also includes Cox, current U.S. Rep. John James and state Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt. The Democratic race includes current Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson. Former Detroit mayor Mike Duggan is running as an independent.
“I believe Democrats gave Republicans two years ago a playbook for what happens when you wake up every day, and you’re void of a vision, and instead you’ve focused your hatred on one person – you lose,” Leonard said.
“You have to have a positive vision for this state … The challenges that Michigan faces are greater than any one person running for office. I don’t focus on Jocelyn Benson, I don’t focus on Gretchen Whitmer and I don’t focus on any of the (Republican) primary candidates right now. I focus on attacking problems every day. That’s what people want to see.”
Some of the major issues Leonard is focusing on in his campaign include affordable housing, mental health and improving the state’s performance in reading proficiency. He proposes license reciprocity as a way of addressing a shortage of skilled trades workers in the building industry.
“I wondered why my uncle, who was a journeyman electrician for 20 years in South Carolina, (when) he moved here, it took him six months to find a job – not because one wasn’t available, it was because the state made him jump through all the hoops to find one … If you’re in a skilled trade, if you’re certified and you move here and show us your certification from the state you came from, we will grant you certification immediately and put you to work,” Leonard said.
Before he became a prosecutor in Genesee County, Leonard clerked for a probate judge who started the state’s first mental health court. He proposes a public campaign to fight the stigma of mental illness, and is also calling for greater use of tele-mental health services.
“We can provide tele-mental health services to every teenager across the state – not just those in public schools, but those in private schools, homeschools, you name it, for just over $6 million,” Leonard said. “We can provide (the same services) to every single veteran age 45 and under for $750,000.”
Leonard also is pushing for improved mental health services in rural areas, particularly in the Upper Peninsula, which does not have a single psychiatric hospital bed.
Leonard is a graduate of the University of Michigan and has his law degree from Michigan State University.
Michigan’s primary election will be held Tuesday, Aug. 4, with the general election to take place on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
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