A new house is being built for Mr. Rogers in his not-yet-neighborhood

BY JON KING, MICHIGAN ADVANCE

MICHIGAN—The White Lake Township home owned by GOP former US Rep. Mike Rogers, who’s running for US Senate, has been demolished, with a new home under construction in its place.

The one-bedroom, 728-square-foot home, purchased by Rogers and his wife, Kristi, for $295,000 in July 2023, became a focus of questions about Rogers residency in January when the Michigan Advance first reported that he had never actually resided at the White Lake property. Instead, Rogers said he was living at his sister-in-law’s Genoa Township house, near Brighton, where he was also registered to vote.

At the time, Rogers’ campaign provided copies of Oakland County permits to plug an onsite well and install a new one at the home, which had undergone $100,000 in renovations prior to its sale. But as of Tuesday morning, the old house was gone and the cement foundation for a new structure was in its place. There were no workers or active construction visible at the time. A sign on the property indicated the construction was being handled by EBI Inc., a home building company owned by Rogers’ brother, Bill Rogers.

Mike Rogers campaign spokesman Chris Gustafson confirmed for the Advance that Rogers was still staying at the Genoa Township home of his sister-in-law with plans to move into the White Lake Township home once it was completed, although no timeline was provided.

Rogers has been accused by political rivals of being a “carpetbagger” in his pursuit of Michigan’s US Senate seat that will open up with the retirement of Democrat Debbie Stabenow. Although born and raised in Livingston County, which he represented during his six years in the Michigan Senate and 14 years in the US House of Representatives, Rogers later moved into a 4,751-square-foot home in Cape Coral, Fla., valued at $1.7 million.

That home, which he still owns, was his official residence until his decision to run for U.S. Senate last year. It was reported in mid-April that Rogers remained registered to vote at the Cape Coral residence, although his campaign said that officials there had failed to act yet on a form filed by Rogers requesting that his name be removed from the Florida voter rolls.

However, a check of the online Florida voter database shows he was still listed as an active voter in Lee County as of Wednesday morning.

Rogers, who has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump, is facing off against former US Rep. Justin Amash (I-Cascade Twp.), physician Sherry O’Donnell and businessman Sandy Pensler in the Aug. 6 GOP primary.

On the Democratic side, U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly), actor Hill Harper and businessman Nasser Beydoun have filed.

READ MORE: Where is Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood?

This coverage was republished from Michigan Advance pursuant to a Creative Commons license.