DETROIT — The Senate race between Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers and Democrat Rep. Elissa Slotkin is close. It's close. It's impossible to predict who will win. But Rogers got a big boost Tuesday with the endorsement of the Michigan Farm Bureau, which hasn't endorsed a Republican Senate candidate in nearly two decades.
Mr. Rogers and Ms. Slotkin competed for key endorsements at an FBI forum in August, where Mr. Rogers touted his farm.
“We grow soybeans and corn on about 300 acres. We're down to a little less than 300 acres now.” She said.
But property records show Slotkin's land is much smaller: just 10 acres, and aerial photos show no evidence of corn or soybeans being grown there.
The records also show that she continues to receive an agricultural tax exemption even though she no longer farms on the property — the house is zoned agriculturally, meaning it's exempt from property taxes — and that Slotkin just claimed when she filed her summer taxes.
Critics say Slotkin's family farm fiction is what cost her the huge support Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow had in the past two elections. The Farm Bureau, also known as AgriPac, hasn't endorsed a Republican running for Michigan's Senate seat since 2006.
“It's not surprising that Elissa Slotkin lost this important endorsement after it was discovered she lied about being a farmer,” Maggie Abboud, a spokeswoman for the Republican Senatorial Committee, told The Post. “Mike Rogers is gaining momentum in the Michigan Senate race.”
The Farm Bureau has endorsed 11 new candidates, including Rogers, and 89 candidates overall for the 2024 election. It has endorsed Donald Trump for president.
AgriPac also endorsed Republicans running in two close House races: Rep. John James, who is defending his seat against Democrat Carl Marlinga, and former state Rep. Tom Barrett, who is running against Democrat Curtis Hertel Jr. for an open seat.
Rogers held a victory march on Tuesday to win the endorsement and pledged to represent farmers' interests in Congress.
“Under the current administration, Michigan farmers have struggled with rising input costs and burdensome government regulations, and now, for the first time in American history, food imports exceed exports,” he said.
AgriPac called on its members to spread the word about Rogers and the other nominees it endorses.
“Tell your neighbors and friends to vote for Friends of Agriculture,” said Mike Fusilier, a Washtenaw County farmer and president of AgriPac, “and put up a sign on their property. Farm Bureau members have something most other groups don't: road frontage.”
a Full list of Agriculture Department approvals It is posted on the website.
