Michigan’s Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers and Democrat nominee Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed are virtually tied in the general election race, an AARP survey reveals.
The survey showed El-Sayed edging out Rogers by just one percentage point — 48 percent to Rogers’ 47 percent — in the general election race among all likely voters. However, Rogers has a comfortable lead among voters ages 50+, seeing 52 percent support to El-Sayed’s 43 percent support.
“When drilling down into older swing voters specifically — the segment of the Michigan electorate who are not straight-ticket Republican or Democratic voters — Rogers enjoys an even wider advantage, leading El-Sayed by 33 points,” the AARP poll revealed.
The survey also examined the state’s gubernatorial race, showing Democrat Jocelyn Benson with a wider lead against her Republican challenger, Republican Rep. John James (R-MI):
The picture is a little different in the Michigan gubernatorial race. Forty-nine percent of all likely voters would choose Democrat Jocelyn Benson, Michigan’s current Secretary of State, compared with the 44 percent who prefer Republican House Rep. John James. Among voters 50-plus, James pulls ahead of Benson, but only by one point. And in this race, older swing voters are in Benson’s camp, giving her a 28-point lead over James.
Overall, the survey found that older voters — particularly those who are not “straight-ticket voters,” could determine the outcome of the elections in these close races.
This coincides with the fact that more of those ages 50+ describe themselves as “extremely motivated” to vote — 86 percent — compared to 71 percent of those ages 18 to 49 who say the same.
The survey was taken August 9-11, 2026, among 877 likely Michigan voters. It has a margin of error of +/- 3.3 percent.
The results follow a recent Fox News poll, also showing Rogers leading El-Sayed in the Senate race by four percentage points, or 51 to 47 percent. That also coincides with a recent EPIC-MIRS poll from the end of last month that has Rogers up by three, 46 to 43 percent.
Rogers has described El-Sayed as an “extremist” who wants to empty prisons and embrace the Muslim Brotherhood, writing in a statement, “I spent years hunting terrorists and bringing Osama bin Laden to justice. Never in a million years did I think that I would be running against someone who believes America deserved 9/11.”
Indeed, El-Sayed has embraced support from Hasan Piker, who said, “America deserved 9/11.” Instead of overtly condemning that remark, El-Sayed said that Piker’s words needed to be viewed in “context.”
Further, El-Sayed’s campaign recently confirmed that the Democrat nominee still follows Sharia law in his personal life.
