By Brendan Scanland
WASHINGTON, D.C. — With just four days until the election, it’s full steam ahead for candidates up and down the ballot.
The race for President of the United States is receiving a lot of attention. However, other important races in the U.S. House and Senate will also be very consequential. Control in both chambers is up for grabs.
Political parties, action committees and the candidates themselves know how important these races are and are doing everything they can to win.
In Michigan, the final push is underway for the state’s open Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). Republican candidate Mike Rogers and Democratic candidate Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin are both working to sure up support from their base and undecided voters.
“As we get into the final stretch of the campaign, both candidates are going to try to do two things. They’re going to try to energize their voters and they’re going to try to reach out to what few voters who are out there that are left,” said Dr. Todd Belt, Professor and Director of the Political Management Master’s Program at George Washington University.
Belt says both Slotkin and Rogers have been following the data and polling leading up to these last few days.
“They have campaign data to show who’s voted and who hasn’t. They have good polling data that tells them who’s still undecided and what those important issues are,” said Belt.
In some cases, following the data could mean a shift in policy or a change in attitude. For example, the day after the Jan. 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol insurrection, former Republican Congressman Mike Rogers had tough words for the former president during an interview with CNN.
“I think yesterday broke the spell that so many people had about Donald Trump. Clearly, his actions led to that… there’s no great way to describe what happened yesterday, sedition,” said Rogers on Jan. 7, 2021.
Since then, Rogers and the former president have developed a close alliance as the two look for success in the swing state on Tuesday.
“Like many Republicans, even the former majority leader and minority leader in the House were very critical of Donald Trump. But then they realized that that is the energy and the base in their party. And if they want to turn people out on Election Day, they have to make sure that they are not running afoul of Donald Trump,” said Belt.
Congresswoman Slotkin has been hit hard by her opponent on the Biden Administration’s so-called EV mandate after she voted to uphold it in September. Belt says Slotkin is now trying to distance herself from the policy.
“This is obviously something that Slotkin thinks is a liability for her. She doesn’t want to be too closely aligned with Biden and the environmental issues because that can be radicalized by the other side,” said Belt.
So far, over 700,000 in-person ballots have been cast during Michigan’s early voting period and just under 2 million absentee ballots have already been returned.