Mike Rogers spoke Sunday night at a Dickinson County Republican Committee gathering in Iron Mountain. (Courtesy photo)

IRON MOUNTAIN — Former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Michigan, says he is passionate about literacy.

Rogers emphasized reading skills during a campaign stop Monday in Iron Mountain, citing results from a 2024 fourth-grade reading assessment in which Michigan ranks 44th in the nation. “It’s one of the things we have to fix,” he said in an interview with The Daily News.

Rogers has long promoted the work of Beyond Basics, a national nonprofit organization founded in 1999 that aims to achieve literacy for everyone. A lack of basic reading skills, he said, is a setup for “a life of poverty.”

At a federal level, Rogers said he wants to see literacy become part of the benefit structure for aid recipients. He said it should also be the focus of aid for Title 1 schools, which are institutions that receive federal funding to assist students from low-income families.

Reading better, he concluded, gives everyone more options in life.

REPUBLICAN U.S. SENATE candidate in Michigan Mike Rogers speaks during an election night watch party Nov. 5 at Suburban Showplace Collection in Novi, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, file)

In October 2023, Rogers and his wife, Kristi, chaired the Barbara Bush Foundation’s National Celebration of Reading in Washington. A little more than a year later, he narrowly lost Michigan’s U.S. Senate race to Democrat Elissa Slotkin. Five months later, he again launched a campaign for the U.S. Senate.

The 2026 election promises to be fiercely contested as Rogers seeks to claim the seat being vacated by Democrat Gary Peters, who said in January he would not seek another term.

“I’ll stand with President Trump,” Rogers said when announcing his candidacy in mid-April. “And we will deliver on the mandate given to him by the American people. … For me, it will always be America and Michigan first.”

Asked Monday if he believes the Senate election will be a referendum on Trump, Rogers chose to say, “The president’s policies are on the ballot.”

Although Trump carried Michigan in the 2016 and 2024 presidential elections, Republicans have not won a Senate election in Michigan since 1994. Trump endorsed Rogers in the 2026 Senate race last month and no other Republicans are yet in the race.

Democrats seeking to succeed Peters include U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Birmingham; state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak; state Rep. Joe Tate, D-Detroit; and former gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed.

Rogers said he’s the candidate who’s positioned to go into the Oval Office and speak to the needs of Michigan, while Democrats are only interested in “poking the president in the eye.”

Rogers admitted there’s “a lot of noise” surrounding Trump’s tariff policies, but he plans to work with the president to make Michigan “the arsenal of democracy,” providing good-paying jobs across the state.

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel Jr., meanwhile, claims Trump’s levies on foreign trade partners pose a serious threat to the state’s manufacturing industry. The Yale Budget Lab estimates the new trade policies could cost the average American household an additional $2,400 annually.

Rogers said he’s pleased with provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into law by Trump last month, including “no tax” on overtime and “no tax” on tips. “I love that,” he said.

The IRS is expected to clarify which occupations qualify for the tax breaks in early October. Income from tips eligible for the deduction is capped at $25,000 for individuals and applies only to federal income tax. Likewise, the deduction for overtime is capped at $12,500 per individual.

Asked about concerns the budget bill will hurt rural hospitals, Rogers said he believes there’s adequate protection. Critics have said Medicaid rollbacks in the bill may increase uncompensated care costs, putting extra strain on rural facilities.

According to the American Hospital Association, 48% of rural hospitals operated at a financial loss in 2023 and 92 have closed their doors or been unable to continue providing inpatient services over the past 10 years.

The Rural Health Transformation Program that’s part of the budget bill supplies $50 billion meant to stabilize and strengthen rural hospitals and providers, although there’s no specific requirement for states to direct the funds to rural hospitals.

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Jim Anderson can be reached at 906-774-3500, ext. 85226, or janderson@ironmountaindailynews.com.