DETROIT, Mich. — Detroit elected officials, Black civic leaders and union heads held a news conference in Detroit on Tuesday, Oct. 13, to push back on Republican U.S. Senate nominee Mike Rogers and his claims that his Black voter outreach is producing results.
State Rep. Tonya Myers Phillips, a Detroit Democrat, and Detroit City Councilmember Denzel McCampbell led the event with the leaders of AFT Michigan, Detroit Action and the Detroit Federation of Teachers. The group urged Black voters to back Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed.
Speakers pointed to Public Act 10 of 1999, a bill co-sponsored by Rogers that originated in the Michigan Senate, which they said took away Detroiters’ right to elect their own school board and paved the way for state control of Detroit schools. Rogers was the state Senate majority floor leader from 1999 to 2000.
McCampbell also cited Rogers’ past support for President Donald Trump’s tariff policies before he sought to distance himself from the president on the issue. In a debate last week with El-Sayed, Rogers said he wants a deal with Canada and that current tariffs are too high, and he released a video saying Canada is not our enemy.
Trade is a central issue in the Michigan race. The U.S. now has a 25 percent tariff on Canadian autos.
