Michigan Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers has promoted “Democrats for Mike Rogers” as evidence that Democrats are abandoning their nominee, Abdul El-Sayed.
But a Drop Site News review found several people behind the effort aren’t Democrats or have long backed Republicans.
At an August event in Detroit, Rogers appeared with local leaders who described themselves as Democrats and said El-Sayed was too extreme. Rogers called their decision to support a Republican “courageous.”
The group’s affiliated super PAC, which has spent roughly $4.4 million supporting Rogers or opposing El-Sayed, lists state Rep. Karen Whitsett as treasurer. Drop Site reports that Whitsett quit the Democratic Party this year over its stance on abortion and LGBTQ rights, but that she’d been siding with Republicans for years. During the 2024 lame-duck session she joined House Republicans in staying away from the chamber, so the House couldn’t reach a quorum and Democratic bills stalled. In early 2025, she raised money alongside state GOP leaders.
Rogers also starred a woman named Cynthia Haynes in a campaign video as a longtime Democratic voter. Drop Site found her social media paints a different picture: she has backed Trump since at least 2024, has praised Vance and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and refers to Democrats as “Demo-Rats.”
The outlet also questioned the credentials of Jewish fundraisers presented as Democrats for Rogers. Hannan Lis and Rob Orley each told Jewish Insider that raising money for a Republican was new to them, with Lis saying “this is something that none of us has ever done.” Federal Election Commission records, however, show both have donated thousands of dollars to several GOP candidates.
Drop Site’s September investigation of 430 Michigan Jews who called themselves Democrats supporting Rogers also found that many were Republican Party members, donors, or otherwise aligned with the party.
Levi Teitel, a spokesperson for Progress Michigan, which has tracked the race, said the effort looks manufactured. “‘Astroturf’ is probably the word,” Teitel said.
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