#mi-sen

Our state’s elected officials stick around. The “Gold Dust Twins” — legendary Senators Henry M. Jackson and Warren G. Magnuson — served together in the United States Senate for twenty-eight years. Nowadays, Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell have been in office since 2001. With seniority comes power, and the opportunity to get stuff done. Ditto in the House, where Representative Adam…

The big question going into tonight’s Michigan U.S. Senate debate is where does Mike Rogers actually live?

As the Detroit Free Press recently reported, “Rogers, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, changed his voter registration on July 2 to a home in White Lake Township that is under construction. A month later, he used the White Lake address to vote (presumably, for himself) in the four-way race for the GOP nomination to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow. There’s just one problem: The house did not — and still does not — have a certificate of occupancy. That means Rogers could not live there legally. And if he didn’t live there, he may have broken the law by using that address to vote.”

But don’t worry about Mike Rogers being homeless. After all, he has his “posh home in Cape Coral, Florida, worth $1.6 million” with “five bedrooms, four bathrooms, a formal dining room, 14-foot high ceilings, a tile roof, a balcony overlooking the water, and a ‘HUGE POOL with TWO SPAs.”

“Tonight’s debate will show a stark contrast between Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin, who has always put the needs of working Michiganders ahead of corporate special interests, and Florida Man Mike Rogers, who sold out Michiganders in his pursuit of personal wealth and power,” said End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller. “But most of all, will Rogers finally come clean about his Florida mansion and potential voter fraud, or will he keep lying to Michiganders about where he really lives?”

The Democrats’ odds of winning back the Senate have been given another small boost, as Gary Peters of Michigan wins his re-election bid.

Peters was challenged by John James, an African-American businessman and veteran who is considered a rising star in the Michigan state GOP. The race was extremely close last night (within a 1% margin), but as increasing numbers of mail-in ballots from Democratic-leaning areas are being counted, Peters has pulled convincingly ahead.

Hi!

From fan accounts on the ALIVE tour, the concert was about 2 hours long. I would expect that. Try to get there about 2 hours and probably expect to leave late.

Moments ago, Gary Peters announced that he will run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Carl Levin in 2014.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan says he will not seek re-election in 2014. He says he wants to do his job as Senate Armed Services chairman and as an advocate for his home state "without the distraction of campaigning for re-election."

Levin was first elected to the Senate in 1978 and is the longest-serving senator in Michigan's history. The 78-year-old lawmaker says in a statement the decision was "extremely difficult." He says he loves representing the people of Michigan and fighting for what he believes is important for them.