Election Day 2026: Michigan GOP's Ted Goodman weighs in on key races and what's at stake

We're back right here on Fox 2 Detroit Live. A live look at an area where John James, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, is about to speak. So we'll continue watching over those live pictures. In the meantime, I want to bring in Ted Goodman from the Michigan GOP party to give us an update on all things Election Day from the Republican perspective. Ted, good to have you back. Thanks for having me. All right. So talk to me. What have you seen today? Where do things stand? Where are all the candidates? Well, look, of course, we're still hearing a lot about the move by Democrat Representative Haley Stevens and her endorsement of Republican Mike Rogers. Of course, say what you will about the Democrats. One thing that they do is they do well is stick together. So it's quite something to have a four term Democrat member of Congress come out against Abdul and in support of Mike Rogers, and she's doing that. Because Representative Stevens is putting country before party, She's putting people ahead of politics and political power, right? She has decided that Abdul, and she did this on her own, right? That Abdul El-Sayed poses a real danger to some of our communities here in Michigan. And so Representative Haley Stevens, I have to say one thing, Ronia, one thing I have to The way that Abdul El-Sayed and the Democrat Party leadership have reacted to the Congresswoman, it's disgusting, especially coming from a party that claims to be the party that empowers women and respects women. The sheer level of misogyny that we're seeing coming from these people, it's disgusting and it's just another example of why Abdul El-Sayed is unfit to lead. Well, let me ask you this, Ted. Certainly, clock's ticking. We have a few hours to go tonight. What would you say about the Republican Party right now? Now that Stevens is on board, has there been a lot of momentum? Well, look, Mike Rogers, and we've been seeing the momentum behind Mike Rogers for U.S. Senate building for quite some time, and that's because of the campaign Mike Rogers had ran, right? So I wouldn't say Haley Stevens' endorsement was a bombshell for Democrat undecided and Democrats in general, right? All right. Haley Stevens' decision, and Abdul's team, they're trying to say, oh, this was a great thing for fundraising, or this is going to energize our side. That's actually not the case. If anything, most voters here in Michigan, they're not chronically online, right? They're not on X, and they're like me, scrolling through social media all day. And so when they see Representative Stephens come out and endorse the Republican, Mike Rogers, it's going to make a lot of voters at At least Oz. And maybe read more into it. Maybe I'd encourage my Democrat friends and independents. I get it, I'm with the Republican Party, right? But go listen to Haley Stevens and what she had to say and why she's not endorsing Abdul and why she's supporting Mike Rogers. So don't take it from me. Those who haven't voted yet, I'd encourage you, if you're gonna vote here after work, if you're taking the kids, picking the kids up from school school and then going to vote. I'd encourage you to get online and just. Google search or, you know, find it on X. Representative Haley Stevens endorses Mike Rogers and watch the video. Watch for yourself. You know, while we wait for an announcement, I believe it's a press conference of some sort from. From the governor, the race for governor, John James, who's about getting ready to speak. You see our crew right there getting ready to get the mic ready while we wait for John James to present the media with some information. What can we expect on the governor's side? I mean, I feel like a lot of the attention has been on the U.S. Senate. But what about John James? Well, good point. Of course, John James, in this race, as you've said, of course, the Senate race has swallowed up a lot of the oxygen here in Michigan. But John James is a Proven leader. This is a man who served in combat as an Apache helicopter pilot in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is a man who has created jobs with his business, his automotive and logistics company in Detroit. This is a man who's only been in Congress for a few years. And he's already delivered results for his constituents. And you contrast that with Jocelyn Benson. Jocelyn Benson is a career politician. Jocelyn, I heard her the other day, she's out there talking about how we need to do this for these people. The government The government needs to do more for these people. Well, Jocelyn, you've been in statewide elected office for eight years. I believe you ran for office multiple times before that, right? So she's nothing more than a phony career politician who doesn't even have a track record to speak of. And she's running against the person who has a Demonstrated record of success, whether it's serving his country in combat or creating jobs as part of a successful business, or now serving as a public servant, delivering results for his constituents. So it's interesting, but I think John James is going to give us as good of a shot as anybody because of his strong, successful track record. And frankly, the hard work he's put in on this campaign, traveling the state to meet with voters, to listen to their concerns. And we're gonna hear from him in just a few minutes. We've been watching the live pictures, which I'm gonna pop up right here, because at any minute he will be speaking. Mike Rogers go out and vote earlier today and we had a chance to speak with him. So we're covering all things, of course, the GOP side, the Democratic side. Now, Ted, big event tonight. Are you going to be there? I'll be there. I mean, we're already downtown. We're in Detroit. Again, and even now, just walking around the streets, right, I'm hearing from people, including members of the Black community. They're not happy with Abdul El-Sayed. And frankly, what's the word to use here? They're offended, some, right? Some folks are offended that the Democrat Party, Abdul El-Sayed, It's almost like they feel that they're taken for granted, right? That Democrats often don't speak to them because they just assume that they have their vote. And so I think folks are gonna be in for a little bit of a surprise tonight here in the Mitten State. I think Republicans here may be able to break away from maybe some of the national trends. Well, we'll see. We'll see. We'll probably check in with you tonight. But we certainly appreciate you hopping in. The question is, will you be here, Sonia? You know, I have this whole desk to run, this whole show to put out. And on top of it all. You've got quite the set up there. Yeah. You know, it's so busy back here. And it looks like they might be getting ready to speak. So, Ted, we appreciate you so much for hopping in. And good luck tonight. Thank you, Sonia. Great.