Mike Rogers asks AIPAC to withhold support in Michigan Senate race

Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers has reportedly requested that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) refrain from campaigning on his behalf in Michigan. The move aims to prevent Rogers from being politically tied to the pro-Israel lobby, which his campaign fears could alienate voters in a swing state containing a large Arab American population.

Following a discussion between Rogers and AIPAC chair Michael Tuchin in Los Angeles, the organization halted a video advertisement intended to target his Democratic opponent, Abdul El-Sayed. El-Sayed, a vocal critic of Israel, previously utilized AIPAC’s significant spending against him during the Democratic primary to frame his opponents as being beholden to special interest groups.

This tension highlights a shifting political landscape where candidates from both parties are increasingly distancing themselves from AIPAC. While the group spent over $30 million to defeat El-Sayed in the primary, Rogers’s team suggested indirect support through donors or strategic expertise rather than public advertising, a proposal AIPAC reportedly rejected.