Michigan Senate hopefuls Slotkin, Rogers say they were targeted in swatting incident

Candidates for a U.S. Senate seat in Michigan said they were both the targets of swatting this week.

“Today, family members of [former Rep.] Mike Rogers [(R-Mich.)] were the target of a swatting attempt at their home in Livingston County,” Chris Gustafson, a communications director for Rogers’ campaign, said in a press release.

“Michigan State Police responded to the false threat and thankfully no one at the home was harmed,” Gustafson said. “Mike and his family are beyond grateful for the professionalism and swift response of law enforcement.”

An emailed statement to The Hill from a spokesperson for Slotkin said that on Thursday, “MSP responded to Congresswoman Slotkin’s home in response to a false threat that was emailed to a local elected official. The congresswoman was not home at the time, and Michigan State Police checked the property and confirmed no one was in danger.”

“This is the latest in a disturbing trend of swatting incidents targeting members of Congress,” the statement from Lynsey Mukomel said. “Congresswoman Slotkin is deeply grateful for the swift and professional response by law enforcement to this unfortunate incident, and that U.S. Capitol Police will be following up to investigate and hopefully hold accountable those responsible.”

“It was a hoax that someone called in, in order to send a big number of law enforcement from Oakland County to my home,” Slotkin said in a Friday video from local television station WOOD-TV. “And, I wasn’t there at the time, but it was certainly meant to disrupt me, disrupt law enforcement, take those law enforcement officers away from all the other things that they were working on.”

Rogers and Slotkin recently won their respective parties’ primaries for current Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s (D-Mich.) seat. The race to replace Stabenow is one of a few highly-watched races across the nation due to its occurrence in a key battleground state.

“The news that Mike Rogers and his family were also ‘swatted’ is deeply troubling and I am glad to hear both he and his family were not harmed,” Slotkin said in a post on the social platform X Friday. “This type of behavior is not acceptable in public life. I thank Michigan State Police for their swift and professional response and I hope those responsible are investigated and held accountable by law enforcement.”

Updated at 3:56 p.m. EST.