TRAVERSE CITY – U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers was scheduled as one of the keynote speakers at a glitzy Republican dinner on Friday to honor the late state Sen. George McManus of Traverse City, but after an hour of shaking hands and greeting up north party fixtures, Rogers left early and never addressed the crowd.

His campaign for the U.S. Senate said Rogers was happy to be there but had another campaign event in Gaylord and that the dinner was running over time, prompting his exit. But the crowd at the dinner appeared to be visibly bewildered when it was announced midway through that Rogers was no longer there and they wouldn’t get to hear him speak, seeing as how he was one of the main draws of the evening.

Few people at the dinner were aware of any other Republican event featuring Rogers in the region that evening.

The campaign did not respond when asked about the nature of the event Rogers left to attend.

The McManus dinner, held in a sprawling conference center space at the Great Wolf Lodge in scenic Traverse City, however, started promptly at 6 p.m. as planned and concluded right around the stated 9 p.m. end time.

There was talk at the dinner that Rogers was upset because he was not speaking first – U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Watersmeet) was scheduled to speak first, and did.

Bergman told the Advance afterward that the rumor of Rogers demanding to speak first was inaccurate, and that last minute scheduling items often come up for candidates seeking important federal office.

The itinerary clearly showed that Bergman was first in the order, but Bergman made a comment at the beginning of his speech that he didn’t think he was supposed to be going first.

Still, Rogers never spoke to the crowd, first or otherwise. He and his campaign staff were present in the room for the opening prayer and pledge of allegiance, but were absent when the speaker portion began.

As the night wore on, some patrons, who were seated close to an area for the Advance and other local press, could be seen whispering to each other and repeatedly pointing to the itinerary of speakers.

Rogers and his wife created a social media video showing them at the Great Wolf Lodge on Friday, saying that the room was packed with Republicans who were fired up for the 2026 contest. It is unclear when the video was taken – before he entered the building or when he was on his way out the door.

His Facebook page, where the video was posted, did not feature a mention of another event later that evening.

Rogers did, however, post pictures from the Cops & Doughnuts location in Gaylord on Saturday morning, which indicated that he had visited the city at some point this weekend.

Dennis Lennox, a political consultant and one of the co-organizers of the event, spoke to the Advance on Saturday in his personal capacity and not as a representative of the group behind the dinner.

Lennox said that he also was unaware of any other event planned in Northern Michigan on Friday evening, nor was there an event that other attendees knew about.

Indeed, the affair on Friday was a venerable who’s who of up north Republicans, party folk from around the state and donors who attended the dinner in honor of McManus, a well-respected regional Republican senator who served in the upper chamber for a decade.

“It’s unfortunate because a lot of people came to the dinner looking forward to hearing the presumptive Republican nominee for United States Senate, and for whatever reason, did not get an opportunity to hear from him,” Lennox said. “Now, with that said, I would also, for the record, say that pretty much everybody in attendance last night is a political person, current or former, and understands that things come up and can, and things can and do happen.”

Lennox did note that the situation was odd, either way.

Still, the event continued on unabated, allowing other Republican candidates an opportunity to speak to donors and GOP faithful in Michigan’s north country.

That included gubernatorial candidate Tom Leonard and attorney general candidate Doug Lloyd, who many at the event said were the stars of the show.

Leonard says Michigan Republicans should focus more on mental health care

Leonard needed no introduction as the former Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives, the former 2018 nominee for attorney general and a candidate for the same office in 2022.

Yet the dinner, which featured no other candidates for governor on the speaking schedule, used the address as a case for why Republicans should nominate him in the 2026 primary.

“When you look at the state of this state right now, did you know the only state that Michigan beat for population growth the first two decades of this century was West Virginia? We are currently 49 out of 50 in unemployment. We are bottom 10 for income total, and if we don’t change it, the next few years, we’re going to be 49 out of 50,” Leonard warned. “The last thing I want, the last thing anybody in this room wants, is for their child or their grandchild to come to them and say, ‘Dad, Grandma, Mom, grandpa, I’ve got to leave the state for better opportunity.’”

Although Leonard said trips to Florida for family time doesn’t sound half bad, he can’t rationalize giving up the fight and letting nearby states like Ohio steal Michigan’s future.

“We’ve got to turn this around,” Leonard said, and made a case for how he would do it.

The candidate mentioned state occupational licensure reform, which has bipartisan support in the state Legislature, to help reduce hoops for licensed professionals seeking to practice in Michigan.

On education, Leonard made another pitch for Republicans to stand steadfast behind school choice, particularly home schooling, which he said has been under attack for years.

Another issue that Leonard championed on Friday evening was expanded access to mental health care.

That push may very well resonate with people in Traverse City following the recent tragic multiple stabbing event at an area Walmart. The alleged perpetrator reportedly had severe mental health issues that went unaddressed, and many have said that better access to care might have prevented the stabbing.

“Why should Republicans ever shy away from mental health reform? … This is something that’s been near and dear to my heart for nearly 20 years,” Leonard said. “I always ask this question, ‘why is it that we should wait for somebody to hurt themselves or hurt somebody else before we get them the help that they need?’ Republicans ought to be running on this issue.”

Leonard also said Republicans in the next cycle need to run on positivity and solutions and not on old grievances against Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer or any of the candidates seeking to succeed her.

“I talk to police officers that are overwhelmed because of this mental health crisis that is facing our state, and frankly, they don’t want a candidate for governor, they don’t want any politician, that’s going to go out there every single day dividing us, dividing others, and poking others,” Leonard said. They want somebody that’s going to listen to them, and they want something that’s going to bring real solutions to the table and solve their problems.”

Leonard concluded by saying that’s what Republicans are going to see with his campaign over the next several months.

Lloyd touts prosecutor work in Eaton County as pathway to AG’s office

The fight to elect a Republican to the attorney general’s office after eight years of Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel is also of high priority for the GOP faithful across the state.

Lloyd, the current Eaton County prosecutor, said his experience in the office will translate well into the state’s top law enforcement position. He said that the attorney general is also tasked with protecting constitutional rights, not just prosecuting crimes, adding that it takes experience to be able to counsel the Legislature against making bad laws that could harm citizens, and to have the restraint to focus on state issues, a knock on Nessel’s push to repeatedly sue the administration of President Donald Trump on a multitude of federal policies in the opening months of his second term.

“We see local sheriffs and prosecutors who are understaffed and overwhelmed every single day as they battle to fight and continue on with the large case loads that they must carry,” Lloyd said. “But instead of the attorney general using her resources in a way that is beneficial to the state, she decides to play political games, filing suits against the Trump administration, instead of actually being a leader.”

Lloyd asked Republicans in the room to help nominate an attorney general candidate who could actually win the general election, a subtle knock against candidates in the past who lost to Nessel, which includes Leonard and former 2022 nominee Matt DePerno.

To Leonard’s credit, his race against Nessel was incredibly close, with the Republican candidate losing by less than 3 percentage points. DePerno, however, lost to Nessel by nearly 10 percentage points.

“In 2026 what you need to understand is that Republicans must win,” Lloyd said. “We need to nominate candidates who can actually rally the party and the votes. We will need winners, not distractions.”

Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jon King for questions: info@michiganadvance.com.