This November, voters in Michigan will select a candidate to replace current U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, a Democrat, who is not seeking re-election. Five hopefuls will appear on the ballot, including Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, Republican Mike Rogers and three third-party candidates.
Lydia Christensen (Libertarian)
Lydia Christensen is running as a Libertarian to represent Michigan in the United States Senate. Christensen is a computer scientist who founded her own company, Iron Fortress LLC.
Iron Fortress LLC is a Michigan-based innovative company dedicated to “building a sustainable, decentralized future through Bitcoin mining, AI compute farms, American manufacturing and advanced connectivity,” its website says.
Christensen’s campaign website says, “As the Libertarian Party nominee for U.S. Senate, Lydia answers to no donor and no machine. This campaign was built the way she built her life: from the ground up, with a small team of dedicated volunteers and less than a thousand dollars. What it lacks in machine backing, it makes up for in authenticity.”
Campaign Issues:
Christensen’s campaign lists 12 main issues with subcategories in each section: civil liberties and privacy, personal freedom, economic freedom, government accountability, foreign policy, economic security, civil rights and equality, immigration, justice system, technology and infrastructure, environment and foundational.
Christensen hopes to defend the Second Amendment, repeal the Patriot Act, create a Digital Bill of Rights, end the 100-Mile Constitution-Free Zone that allows immigration officers to search people without a warrant if they are within a reasonable distance from the border, and end qualified immunity for public officials. She wants to legalize the use of cannabis and psilocybin, decriminalize sex work for consenting adults and end the death penalty.
Christensen aims to end income tax on earnings under $150,000, remove tariffs and fossil fuel subsidies and build a strong economy. She wants to restore net neutrality, so internet providers cannot, as she describes, block or slow down websites. Her platform vows to, as she describes, restore Congress’ war powers, encourage transparency and hold executive powers accountable. The campaign promises to keep Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers out of polling places, support rank choice voting, oppose the SAVE Act, and overturn the Citizens United ruling.
Christensen would support social security, Medicaid for All, reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ civil rights, the rights of transgender individuals in federal custody, and tribal sovereignty and treaty rights. Christensen promises to work to abolish ICE, reform Michigan’s criminal justice system and end medical neglect in Michigan prisons.
Christensen’s vision includes embracing Blockchain and cryptocurrency innovation, expanding fiber optic access for all, and supporting data centers on the condition that Michigan gets to set the terms under which they operate. She promises to protect the environment, decommission the Line 5 Pipeline and restore food safety by increasing the FDA‘s budget.
Abdul El-Sayed (Democrat)
Abdul El-Sayed is running as a Democrat to represent Michigan in the U.S. Senate. According to his campaign website, El-Sayed did not step into his professional career expecting to be a politician — he first studied to be a doctor. During his time working as a healthcare provider, he saw disparities within the system and has since pivoted in his career to focus on the political aspect of healthcare in efforts to promote equality.
He rebuilt Detroit’s Health Department after the city went bankrupt in 2013 and restructured Wayne County’s Department of Health, Human and Veterans Services. Additionally, El-Sayed co-authored “Medicare for All: A Citizens Guide" alongside physician and health care researcher Micah Johnson.
El-Sayed’s website says, “Abdul is running for U.S. Senate because life in Michigan shouldn’t be this hard — or this expensive. After a successful career of making government work for Michiganders, he wants to take his vision to Washington and make the United States Senate work for you.”
Campaign Issues:
El-Sayed’s campaign focuses on three key points with subcategories in each section. The three areas of focus are: money out of politics, money in your pocket and Medicare for All.
The money out of politics sector of the campaign aims toward banning corporate money in politics, ending partisan gerrymandering and reforming the Supreme Court by imposing term limits and allowing the same number of appointments for each presidential term. To El-Sayed, money out of politics also means abolishing the filibuster and making voting easier by automatically registering people to vote when they turn 18, making election days holidays and allowing no-reason absentee and in-person early voting. The campaign states the importance of protecting the civil rights and liberties of all Americans, abolishing ICE, protecting natural resources and a foreign policy that spends less money on wars, instead investing it elsewhere.
The money in your pocket sector of the campaign focuses on bringing more jobs to Michigan, taxing billionaire wealth and regulating the use of artificial intelligence as means of keeping and providing more jobs, and supporting comprehensive federal zoning guidelines on data centers. El-Sayed intends to build more housing and implement regulations to address homelessness. His campaign says he will work to redirect federal farm subsidies away from corporate agri- business and toward family farmers.
The Medicare for All sector of the campaign promises to expand resources to veterans, break up big healthcare, reduce the price of prescription drugs, rebuild public health and ensure autonomy in areas like reproductive health and gender-affirming care.
Timothy Long (US Taxpayers)
Timothy Long is running for United States Senate in Michigan as a member of the US Taxpayers party.
Douglas P. Marsh (Green)
Douglas P. Marsh is running for United States Senate in Michigan as a member of the Green Party. Marsh is an experienced journalist with a demonstrated history of
working in the publishing industry, his LinkedIn profile says. Marsh is skilled in research, informational technology, data entry, English, first aid and CPR. He has a bachelor of arts degree focused in philosophy from the University of Michigan.
Mike Rogers (Republican)
Mike Rogers is a former United States Representative, representing Michigan’s 8th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. Rogers is running as a Republican to represent Michigan in the United States Senate. Prior to his career in politics, Rogers served as a lieutenant in the United States Army and later worked as a special agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Chicago.
Rogers’ career in politics began in 1994 when he ran for Michigan State Senate and won. While serving as a state senator, Rogers wrote the legislation that created Michigan’s 529 College Savings Program and authored the Respect for Fallen Heroes Act. Furthermore, during his time in the House of Representatives, he served as the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
Rogers says on his website, “I’ll stand with President Trump to deliver on the mandate given to him by the American people. For too long Michigan has been represented by two-faced politicians, who say they’re ‘moderates’ but vote as radicals when they get to Washington.”
Campaign Issues:
Rogers’ campaign focuses on housing, healthcare and what he describes as rebuilding the American dream, with additional subcategories. Rogers aims to expand 529 plans to cover college education, vocational training, first-time down payments on homes and help to cover the first year of property taxes. The plan would allow families to open a 529 Plan and contribute at any time for any reason, in addition to eliminating transfer fees and ensuring the funds do not count against PMI eligibility.
Rogers’ vision includes lowering interest rates by allowing families to build credit for timely payments and allowing individuals to defer student loan payments while saving for a home down payment with dollar-for-dollar contribution. Rogers wants to encourage new home building by creating residential housing zones where new construction is completely tax-free, replacing empty lot zoning with residential housing zones and use those policies as a way to create new jobs.
Rogers plans to address healthcare by making costs publicly known to patients before they receive a bill, expand access to Trump Rx, and require insurance companies to publicly report denial rates, approval rates and appeal outcomes, and impose penalties on companies with excessive denials or delays.
Candidates appear in alphabetical order by last name. Information about candidates is gathered from campaign materials made publicly available online.
