Fox News Columnist Casts Michigan Senate Race as Midterm Flashpoint in Anti-Democrat Warning

A Fox News opinion column by Liz Peek is urging voters to reject Democratic candidates in the upcoming midterms, singling out Michigan’s open U.S. Senate race between Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and his Republican opponent, Rogers, as a test case for what she frames as a national choice between stability and radicalism.

Peek’s column argues that voters angry over gas prices and President Trump’s strike on Iran, which she calls Operation Epic Fury, are poised to back candidates she describes as anti-U.S. and anti-Israel. She points to El-Sayed specifically, writing that he would not explicitly condemn Iran’s Revolutionary Guard when pressed, that he called for Medicare-for-All before walking back his position on eliminating private insurance as it became a political liability, and that he has described Hasan Piker, who said Americans deserved the September 11 attacks, as a friend.

The column ties the Michigan race to a broader argument about the state of the U.S. economy under President Trump. Peek writes that the economy is growing at more than 5%, citing the Atlanta Federal Reserve, and that household net worth is up 17% since Trump took office in January 2025. She also cites figures showing child poverty at an all-time low last year and real median household income at a record high, alongside a federal workforce that has shrunk from roughly 3 million under President Biden to 2.67 million under Trump.

She contrasts that record with what she describes as Democratic priorities, listing an eventual reopening of the border, opposition from Bernie Sanders to the growth of artificial intelligence, loosened Medicaid eligibility rules, restrictions on oil, natural gas and LNG exports, and resistance to extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts.

Peek notes that every Democrat in Congress voted against what she calls the Big, Beautiful Bill, which cut taxes on tips and overtime, and that Kamala Harris had proposed rolling back the 2017 tax cuts during her 2024 presidential campaign. She also points to data showing that of the ten most expensive U.S. states, all but Alaska are run by Democrats, and of the ten most expensive cities, all but Miami are Democrat-run, attributing the pattern to high taxes and regulation, including California’s 74-cent-per-gallon gas tax and New York’s Congestion Pricing fee on trucks.

On the House side, Peek names Democratic candidate Darialisa Avila Chevalier as an example of a contender who wants to eliminate the border outright.

The column acknowledges criticism of Trump himself, saying he has made missteps such as pushing to put his name on the Kennedy Center and picking unnecessary fights with Canada and members of the media, but argues that on substantive policy questions he remains right far more often than his Democratic opponents.