The Sandy Pensler for Senate campaign is launching the first salvo in what will undoubtedly be a lengthy TV ad war by highlighting former Rep. Mike Rogers’s numerous criticisms of President Donald Trump.
The :30 spot, which will run on Fox News Channel statewide, is a montage mostly of appearances Rogers made on CNN, where he was a contributor during the last presidential election.
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In one March 30, 2023 clip, Rogers declared to CBS News, “I don’t believe today as I’m sitting here that Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee for 2024. Don’t believe it.”
Despite that analysis, Rogers has since endorsed Trump.
“The first step to getting America back on track starts with putting an end to Bidenomics and returning to the leadership and proven policies of President Trump,” Rogers said this January.
Other clips show Rogers criticizing Trump for attacking the media and saying such things were “petty and certainly below the statue of the office of President of the United States.”
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“His troubles are mounting, his fundraising is waning,” Rogers observed less than one year ago, the ad highlights.
Trump is poised to handily win the Iowa caucuses this evening, something he did not do the last time he had a primary. Trump’s arguably stronger than he’s ever been, in Iowa and every other state, including those from which other candidates hail, polling consistently shows.
Pensler’s ad concludes with Rogers telling CNN during the 2016 Republican National Convention that Trump “was not my candidate.”
AdImpact reported the buy was $54,000 but a source tells The Midwesterner it is higher and will run through the week, first capturing Fox News viewers tuning into Iowa election night coverage Monday.
#MIPol: We just tracked the first TV spending of the 2024 #MISen race. Sandy Pensler (R) just placed $54K, with ads set to begin airing on Monday. He previously ran for MI Senate in 2018 and spent $3.3M in the primary.
— AdImpact Politics (@AdImpact_Pol) January 12, 2024
A recent poll conducted by The Detroit News found the race to be a “toss-up” with anointed Democrat candidate U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin neck-and-neck with Rogers and James Craig. The paper did not poll Pensler in a head-to-head match up.
While it is not clear how much Pensler intends to spend on his campaign, in 2018, he contributed nearly $5 million. He lost to John James, who was endorsed by Trump in that race.