Mike Rogers, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan, claimed without evidence in October 2025 that a van of ballots in Detroit swung his 2024 race; official election results, and a subsequent standard audit, show he lost to Elissa Slotkin.
Two of Rogers's county co-chairs, Meshawn Maddock and Kenneth Thompson, are Michigan false electors from 2020 whom President Trump pardoned in November 2025, and Rogers's campaign did not respond when the Michigan Advance asked about them or when the Detroit News asked about his ballot claim. Federal agents have since seized records from the 2024 election in Michigan's Wayne County.
Mike Rogers's Election Claims and His Silence on Michigan's Fake Electors
- Rogers Claimed, Without Evidence, That Detroit Ballots Swung the 2024 Election. In an October 17, 2025 speech in Muskegon, Mike Rogers made an air-quote gesture as he said "ballots" had arrived in Detroit in a van the morning after Election Day, and said, "We ended up losing that thing by about 17,000 votes" and "And that swung the election on us. And it happened to be here in Detroit." The Michigan Advance reported he made the claim without evidence. Official election results, and a subsequent standard audit, show Rogers was defeated by Elissa Slotkin, the Michigan Advance reported: the certified count gave Slotkin a margin of a little more than 19,000 votes, and the audit found a total difference of 33 votes between the machine and hand counts.
- Rogers's Campaign Did Not Respond When Asked About the Van Allegation. When the Detroit News asked about his claim that a van of ballots swung the 2024 race, a Rogers spokeswoman did not respond, Deadline Detroit reported on November 9, 2025; the next day the Michigan Advance reported its own request for comment had yet to be returned. The claim has stood uncorrected as federal agents seized ballots and other records from the 2024 election in Michigan's Wayne County, which includes Detroit (Associated Press, June 2026).
- Rogers Did Not Answer Questions About Pardoned Fake Electors Serving as His County Co-Chairs. Mike Rogers's campaign did not respond to a request for comment from the Michigan Advance for its November 21, 2025 report on his van claim and on two of his county co-chairs, Meshawn Maddock in Oakland County and Kenneth Thompson in Ionia County. President Trump granted Maddock and Thompson federal pardons in November 2025 for their alleged role in the "false electors" scheme that sought to cast Michigan's electoral votes in 2020 for Trump, despite the state voting for Joe Biden. Another Rogers co-chair, Norm Shinkle of Ingham County, was the sole member of the State Board of Canvassers who refused to certify the 2020 elections.
What the Pursuit of Michigan's 2024 Ballots Means After Mike Rogers's Claim
- Wayne County's 2024 records. The Justice Department is seeking records from Wayne County, Michigan related to the 2024 election, the Brennan Center reports, after the FBI seized ballots and records there.
Frequently Asked Questions About Mike Rogers on Democracy and January 6
What is Mike Rogers's record on democracy and January 6 under Trump?
Mike Rogers claimed without evidence in October 2025 that a van of ballots in Detroit swung his 2024 Senate race, which Michigan's certified results and audit contradict. Two of his county co-chairs are false electors whom President Trump pardoned in November 2025, and his campaign did not answer the Michigan Advance's questions about them or the Detroit News's questions about the van claim.
Who are the fake electors working on Mike Rogers's campaign?
Mike Rogers named Meshawn Maddock and Kenneth Thompson, two of Michigan's 2020 false electors, as county co-chairs in Oakland and Ionia counties, the Michigan Advance reported in November 2025. The Advance found nearly a dozen of the other county co-chairs named by Rogers in June 2025 had promoted conspiracy theories on the 2020 election or the January 6 riots.
How much did Mike Rogers lose the 2024 Senate race by?
Mike Rogers lost the 2024 Michigan Senate race to Elissa Slotkin by a little more than 19,000 votes in the certified count. In his October 2025 van remarks, Rogers put the margin at "about 17,000 votes."
Last updated: 2026-10-25