Allies of Republican Michigan Senate nominee Mike Rogers are urging AIPAC not to launch an advertising campaign on his behalf, reportedly fearing the group’s involvement could hurt him in November.
Rogers met with AIPAC chairman Michael Tuchin in Los Angeles last week, and the organization shelved a completed advertisement attacking Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed the following day, Axios reported.
The disagreement reportedly centers not on whether AIPAC should help Rogers, a firm supporter of Israel, but on how visibly it should do so. Rogers’ allies suggested that AIPAC donors instead contribute to a pro-Rogers super PAC or a joint fundraising operation established by the campaign and national Republicans. They also proposed bringing AIPAC political strategists into the broader effort.
AIPAC officials, however, wanted to play a public role in defeating El-Sayed and argued that the Democrat would link Rogers to the organization regardless, according to Axios. Direct talks between the two sides have since stalled, leaving Republican donors with ties to both camps attempting to mend the relationship.
The group and its affiliates spent more than $30 million during Michigan’s Democratic primary in an unsuccessful effort to stop El-Sayed, a socialist and vocal critic of Israel. Much of that spending aided Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), whom El-Sayed narrowly defeated on August 4.
El-Sayed made AIPAC’s involvement a central theme of his campaign, presenting the group’s enormous spending as evidence that wealthy interests were attempting to buy the nomination. Shortly before winning the primary, he taunted the organization: “AIPAC, if you’re listening, come back and burn it again.”
El-Sayed’s record extends well beyond ordinary criticism of Israeli policy. The devout Muslim has called Israel a “rogue state,” accused it of genocide and apartheid, and declined to affirm its right to exist as a Jewish state. In a 2022 speech to a Council on American-Islamic Relations chapter, he compared an effort to prohibit Sharia law in Oklahoma courts to the Trail of Tears, the Tulsa race massacre, and the Oklahoma City bombing, arguing that each grew from the same forces of white supremacy. El-Sayed has also campaigned alongside communist streamer Hasan Piker, who has said America “deserved 9/11” and defended Hamas and Hezbollah.
After his victory, AIPAC vowed to continue working against El-Sayed and what it called his “radical anti-Israel agenda,” but Michigan presents a particularly delicate landscape for such a campaign. The state has one of America’s largest Arab-American populations, while an August 13 Fox News survey found that 55% of Michigan voters oppose further U.S. aid to Israel
The contest is expected to be among the country’s most consequential Senate races. Rogers, a former congressman who narrowly lost Michigan’s other Senate race in 2024, is attempting to flip the seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters.
Despite the reported friction, Rogers publicly welcomed assistance from Israel’s supporters.
“I welcome any and all support from the pro-Israel community,” he told Axios, adding that he was proud to have them involved.
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