LANSING, Mich. (WZMQ) – Nine weeks out from Election Day, Michigan got a preview of the argument both parties plan to make to voters this fall, and it played out in real time Monday across three separate events in the state.
Vice President JD Vance landed in Sterling Heights to rally Republicans behind John James in the governor’s race and Mike Rogers in the U.S. Senate race. He opened with a policy announcement on truckers, framing it as a matter of protecting Michigan jobs.
“Trucking is too important to let it go to foreign fraudsters. It belongs to Michiganders right here in this state,” Vance said.
Vance brought an Ohio fleet owner, Monty Wiederhold, on stage and praised truckers broadly.
“They just show up, they don’t complain, they go to work, and they get it done for the American people every single day,” Vance said.
From there, Vance turned to Rogers’ opponent, Abdul El Sayed, telling the crowd he planned to spend much of his speech on him.
“I try not to pay too much attention to him, and unfortunately you guys have to,” Vance said.
He brought up comments El Sayed made following a March attack on Temple Israel and El Sayed’s past association with a Twitch streamer who once said “America deserved 9/11,” a claim fact-checkers including PolitiFact and FactCheck.org have found no evidence El Sayed himself ever made. Vance closed his remarks by framing the choice in November as one of character over policy specifics.
“Send the crazy people to the curb,” Vance told the crowd.
But while Vance worked to fire up Republicans, Democrats were making a very different argument just a few hours away, one centered less on any one candidate’s past comments than on what’s happening at the checkout line. Gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson stood alongside former Gov. Jim Blanchard, who also served as U.S. ambassador to Canada, to argue that President Trump’s 50% tariff on Canadian goods is the real story of this election season. Blanchard leaned on decades of experience with the U.S. Canada relationship.
“We’ve never had a better partner, an ally and friend than the people right next door,” Blanchard said.
He also pointed to specific costs already hitting Michiganders.
“Car prices are already going up because of the tariffs on aluminum and steel and auto parts,” Blanchard said.
Benson tied those rising costs directly to James, who voted in line with the tariffs in Congress, framing the choice in November around a single question.
“Who do you want the next governor of Michigan to work for? The people or Donald Trump?” Benson said.
Her campaign says the tariffs have cost Michigan households an extra $5,600 on average, the highest of any state. She also laid out what she’d do differently as governor, pledging to build direct partnerships with Canada and other international partners and to work with other states to protect Michigan’s economy when Washington can’t, or won’t.
El Sayed held his own event with UAW Region 1 Director Leseawn English and State Senator Mallory McMorrow, opening with a direct shot at Vance himself.
“As JD Vance, Ohio’s worst export, campaigns in our state today, Michiganders are hurting,” McMorrow said.
El Sayed argued Rogers has gone along with a trade war that his campaign estimates is costing Michigan families nearly $6,000 a year.
“This is a vanity war. And I wanna be clear, this vanity war is not a war with Canada. It’s a war on Michigan,” El Sayed said.
Monday made one thing clear: with nine weeks left before Michiganders head to the polls, both parties are placing very different bets on what will move voters, one leaning into character and culture war fights, the other betting that pocketbook issues like tariffs and the cost of living will decide the race.
