Mike Rogers, Paul Hudson fire up GOP base at Grand Rapids rally

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Republicans rallied Wednesday evening in Grand Rapids, urging supporters to knock on doors and get out the vote as they seek to win key races and put the GOP in control of the state House and U.S. Senate.

With Election Day less than three weeks away, and polls showing Democrats and Republicans locked in a tight race for Michigan's open U.S. Senate seat, among other contests, candidates sounded a "call to action."

"We need to close strong here," said Republican Paul Hudson, an East Grand Rapids attorney who's challenging West Michigan Democratic congresswoman Hillary Scholten. "We need to get out and knock more doors than our opponents do.

"We need to make more phone calls. We need to text our friends and let them know to get out too."

In addition to Hudson, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers spoke at Wednesday's event, as did former Michigan GOP governor Rick Snyder. The event, at New Vintage Place, drew more than 100 attendees.

Snyder, who served as Michigan's top elected official from 2011-2018, focused his remarks on putting Republicans back in control of the state House, which Democrats took over in 2023. The former governor said Republicans can be counted on to support conservative principles such as limited government, less spending and paying down long-term debt.

"We had a plan to pay down debt; pay off all the long-term liabilities in the state of Michigan by 2038," Snyder said. "That plan has been cratered. We need to get that plan back."

Rogers, a former FBI agent who represented the Brighton area in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2001 to 2015, turned the attention to his U.S. Senate race against Democratic congresswoman Elissa Slotkin.

He spoke about inflation, high food prices and other challenges facing Michigan residents.

Inflation surged and prices climbed following the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Pandemic-era stimulus programs, which pumped more than one trillion dollars in the U.S. economy, were one factor. But so were the war in Ukraine and COVID-19 supply chain disruptions, news reports show .

However, inflation is starting to ease, and it hit its lowest level in September since it began surging in 2021, The Associated Press reported . However, food prices remain 25% above pre-pandemic levels.

"The stakes couldn't be higher," Rogers said. "The choices could not be clearer. Think about the things we've got to get done in the next 20 days. We cannot slow down."

A host of Kent County Republicans attended Wednesday's rally, including Kent County Clerk Lisa Posthumus Lyons, Kent County Treasurers Peter MacGregor, Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker, Kent County Drain Commissioner Ken Yonker and others.

Michigan GOP chairman Pete Hoekstra also attended.

Hudson, a former Kalamazoo resident who unsuccessfully ran for the Michigan Supreme Court in 2022, was the last to speak Wednesday.

The 3rd Congressional District candidate introduced himself to the audience, and spoke about his values and the lessons he learned from his grandfather, the late former Michigan State University football coach Duffy Daugherty.

"He wasn't just my personal hero — he was an American hero," Hudson said of the former National champion coach. "He fought for our country in the jungles of New Guinea in World War II. He enlisted as a private. He worked his way all the way up to major, won the Bronze Star."

He said Scholten, who in 2022 became the first Democrat to represent Grand Rapids in Congress since 1977, "has been on the wrong end" of issues such as inflation, immigration and national security. He also said she has a "far left voting record" while she describes herself as bipartisan.

"She pretends to be very moderate, very bipartisan — don't believe it," he said.

Scholten's campaign has touted her bipartisanship, pointing to a Georgetown University study that ranked her as the 51st most bipartisan member of the 435-person U.S. House of Representatives in 2023.

An analysis by The nonpartisan Cook Political Report also shows Scholten, the first congressional Democrat in Michigan to call for President Biden not to seek reelection, had a "less partisan voting record than most members of Congress in 2023," Bridge Michigan reported .

"Bipartisanship is always where I start," Scholten said in a statement. "This Congress–with an agenda of chaos– has made it more challenging to cross party lines, but I'm finding opportunities to do just that. Knowing when to give in, and when to stand up and hold the line is the hard, value-driven work West Michigan sent me here to do."

In addition to Michigan Republicans, Wednesday's event also featured Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-West Virginia, and Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa. They were campaigning with Rogers Wednesday, and praised him as a candidate "who is going to hit the ground running" if elected.

"He knows the topics, he knows the people, and he knows the right direction that we want this country to go," said Capito, who previously served in the U.S. House with Rogers. "He has great leadership and great experience in law enforcement."