Rogers’ “Faith Coalition” included countless election deniers, homophobes, and creeps like election-denying-pastor Tim Cross who enabled his 40-year mentor to cover up instances of sexual misconduct in his ministries.
Rogers’ “Students for Mike Rogers” coalition included far-right extremists who called to exile Jewish Americans to North Korea, aligned with the Groypers, believed that women did not belong in politics, and defended the young Republicans’ “I love Hitler” group chat.
Rogers’ “Faith Coalition” Included Tim Cross; Cross Enabled His 40-Year Mentor Mark T. Barclay To Cover Up Instances Of Sexual Misconduct By Two Of His Ministers. According to Daily Kos, “But believe it or not, Cross is engaging in something that makes election denial look minor league by comparison. Specifically, being willing to stand with a longtime mentor despite irrefutable evidence said mentor coddled sexual predators in his own church. [...] For over four decades, Cross has been closely tied to one of the more prominent ministers in Midwestern charismatic circles, Mark T. Barclay, pastor of Living Word International Church in Midland. For the last year-and-a-half, Barclay has been under a barrage for his inadequate response to gross sexual misconduct by two of his ministers.” [Daily Kos, 3/11/26]
Cross Was A 2020 Election Denier Who Told The Muskegon Board Of Canvassers That Michiganders Were “Lied To” And “Deceived” Over The 2020 Election. According to Daily Kos, “When Mike Rogers, the de facto Republican nominee for Gary Peters’ Senate seat in Michigan, announced the leaders of his ‘Faith Coalition,’ Lansing CBS affiliate WLNS-TV noted that several of its members were chest-beating election deniers[…] But one name on that list jumped at me—Tim Cross, pastor of Living Word Church of Muskegon, nine minutes from me. In the hurly-burly after the 2020 election, Cross told the Muskegon County Board of Canvassers that ‘we were lied to, and we were deceived’—and didn’t cite any extraordinary evidence for such an extraordinary claim.” [Daily Kos, 3/11/26]
Letter To The Editor Of The Midland Daily News: Couple Urges Mike Rogers To Remove Pastors Tied To Midland Church Scandal. [Dana And Dan Stahl Op-Ed - Midland Daily News, 4/15/26]
Former Barclay Ministries Church Members Called On Rogers To Remove Two Pastors From His Faith Coalition Over The Pastors’ Ties To A Child Sex Abuse Scandal At Barclay Ministries. According to Midland Today, “A couple who were longtime members of Mark Barclay Ministries/Living Word Church in Midland, Michigan, have written an open letter urging U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers to remove two pastors from his campaign's leadership team due to their connections to a child sex abuse scandal at the church. The letter alleges that church leaders, including the two pastors, failed to protect children and even worked to silence victims who came forward about the abuse.” [Midland Today, 4/15/26]
The Stahls Privately Contacted Rogers’ Campaign Prior To Publishing Their Open Letter And Warned Rogers Of His Faith Leaders’ Ties To The Child Abuse At Barclay Ministries. According to Midland Today, “‘We reached out privately on March 9 to alert you to the fact that your campaign has elevated leaders connected to the sexual abuse scandal at Mark Barclay Ministries, an institution that endangered and failed to protect children from predators, and we did not receive a response.’” [Midland Today, 4/15/26]
Cross Resigned From Rogers’ Faith Coalition Amid The Allegations Surrounding His Knowledge Of Child Sex Crimes Committed At His Church; Cross Claimed It Was “An Honor” To Work On Rogers’ Campaign And Maintained His Support For Rogers. According to ABC12 News, “Three elders at the church have been convicted of sex crimes involving children. Cross admitted in a YouTube video that he initially did not believe the victims. Cross resigned from Rogers' Faith Coalition. ‘It has been an honor,’ Cross said. ‘Although I greatly support Mike in his run for United States Senate, at this time I am no longer able to participate in his Faith Coalition. My duties as a pastor of a growing church, plus the other community responsibilities that I have are not allowing me to have the time that I need to give the attention to the Faith Coalition that it deserves. So, I am stepping down at this time.’” [ABC12 News, 4/20/26]
Rogers’ “Faith Coalition” Included Lorenzo Sewell; Sewell Was A Fervent 2020 Election Denier Who Claimed That 2020 Was Littered With “Cheating” And “Systemic Voter Fraud” In Detroit. According to Daily Kos, “When Mike Rogers, the de facto Republican nominee for Gary Peters’ Senate seat in Michigan, announced the leaders of his ‘Faith Coalition,’ Lansing CBS affiliate WLNS-TV noted that several of its members were chest-beating election deniers. The best-known member of this group is Black Trumper pastor Lorenzo Sewell, who gave an invocation at Trump 2.0’s inauguration. Sewell claimed, without evidence, that the 2020 election was shot through with ‘cheating’ and ‘systemic voter fraud’ in Detroit.” [Daily Kos, 3/11/26]
June 2025: Sewell Believed That Queer Civil Rights Would “Superimpose Your Sexuality On Our Culture” And Urged His Congregants To Pray Against The “Abomination” Of Homosexuality. According to the Detroit Metro Times, “Another coalition member, Pastor Lorenzo Sewell, has preached that LGBTQ+ civil rights undermine Christian teachings. In June, he insisted that extending civil rights to LGBTQ+ residents will ‘superimpose your sexuality on our culture,’ urging congregants to pray against what he described as an ‘abomination.’” [Detroit Metro Times, 12/10/25]
Tarver Launched Failed Efforts To Block Certification Of Biden’s Victory And To Seize Ballots, Ballot Boxes, And Poll Books Across Detroit. According to the Detroit Metro Times, “Tarver was a vocal supporter of efforts to overturn the 2020 election, petitioning the Michigan Supreme Court to seize ballots, ballot boxes, and poll books in Detroit and to block certification of Biden’s victory. The court rejected her claims. She later joined a failed national Republican-backed lawsuit that sought to stop Michigan’s electors from certifying Biden’s win.” [Detroit Metro Times, 12/10/25]
Tarver Used Her Position As Michigan Civil Rights Commissioner To Repeatedly Oppose Basic Civil Rights Protections For LGBTQ+ Michiganders. According to the Detroit Metro Times, “One of the most prominent members of the coalition is former Michigan Civil Rights Commissioner Linda Lee Tarver, who repeatedly fought efforts to extend basic protections to LGBTQ+ residents while serving on the commission. In 2017, when Equality Michigan asked the commission to interpret the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act as covering sexual orientation and gender identity, Tarver pushed for an outright rejection, saying, ‘We’re not here to expand law; it is not within our purview.’” [Detroit Metro Times, 12/10/25]
Tarver Believed Federal Protections For Sexual Orientation And Gender Identity Were The “Godless, Demonic, Satanic And Wicked Agenda Of The Devil.” According to the Detroit Metro Times, “Tarver’s public statements went even further. On Facebook in February 2021, when President Joe Biden wanted to add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes, she wrote that ‘God designed the husband to be a MAN and the wife to be a WOMAN’ and called federal LGBTQ+ protections a ‘godless, demonic, satanic and wicked agenda of the devil.’” [Detroit Metro Times, 12/10/25]
ABC12 News: Faith Leader For Rogers Senate Campaign Didn't Believe Midland Church Sex Assault Victims. [ABC 12 News, 3/12/26]
Rogers Campaign Spoke With ABC12 News Regarding The Allegations Against Tim Cross But Declined To Comment. According to ABC12 News, “Attempts to reach Tim Cross for further comment were unsuccessful. We spoke with a representative from the Rogers campaign, but the campaign did not provide a statement before the story aired.” [ABC 12 News, 3/12/26]
Rogers’ “Students For Mike Rogers” Coalition Included Cameron Dundas And Alexander Richmond. According to the Detroit Metro Times, “Rogers, a former congressman and FBI agent, announced ‘Students for Mike Rogers’ earlier this month. The campaign post listed Cameron Dundas of Northwestern Michigan College and Alexander Richmond, a University of Michigan student whose LinkedIn profile identified him as Rogers’s campus coordinator.” [Detroit Metro Times, 4/1/26]
Dundas Suggested On Facebook That “‘These People,” A Comment That Appeared To Refer To Jews, Should Be Sent “To North Korea.” According to the Detroit Metro Times, “On X on Feb. 25, Dundas, who promoted his involvement with the group on Facebook the same day Rogers announced it, wrote, ‘Send them to North Korea?’ in response to a post asking what should be done about ‘these people,’ a comment that appeared to refer to Jews.” [Detroit Metro Times, 4/1/26]
Dundas Often Cited Members Of The Groyper Movement. According to the Detroit Metro Times, “Dundas often cites far-right internet figure John Doyle, who has drawn criticism for his ties with antisemite and white nationalist Nick Fuentes and his Groyper movement, as well as for rhetoric that critics describe as misogynistic, racist, and anti-LGBTQ. [...] In 2022, Doyle said Martin Luther King Jr. getting ‘assassinated is like the best thing that could have happened to him,’ claiming the civil rights icon was a bad man who is now beloved because he was killed. ” [Detroit Metro Times, 4/1/26]
Dundas Boosted The Groypers’ Misogynistic Belief That Women Did Not Belong In Politics And Warned Against “What Happens When Women Get Into Politics.” According to the Detroit Metro Times, “After Donald Trump lost the election in 2020, Doyle spread misinformation and urged Pennsylvania lawmakers to disregard the results. His Twitter account at the time was suspended for violating the platform’s terms of service. [...] Dundas also quoted Doyle approvingly while arguing women do not belong in politics. In a March 20 post on X, Dundas wrote, ‘This is what happens when you get women in politics, I mean it sort of devolves to this stuff,’ attributing the remark to Doyle. Dundas also repeatedly promoted Doyle online. In an Instagram story, Dundas said, ‘If you aren’t listening to The John Doyle Show your mind is a sandbox for the CIA.’” [Detroit Metro Times, 4/1/26]
Richmond Defended The Young Republicans Involved In The ‘I Love Hitler’ Groupchat And Demanded “Loyalty” Among The GOP Towards The Far-Right Youth, “Capitulation Is For Losers.” According to the Detroit Metro Times, “Richmond, another Rogers student appointee, is tied to the fallout from a leaked Young Republicans group chat first reported by Politico in October 2025. The chat participants declared, ‘I love Hitler,’ referred to Black people as ‘monkeys’ and ‘the watermelon people,”’mused about putting opponents in gas chambers, and called rape ‘epic’ After the report was published, Richmond criticized those speaking out about the Young Republicans. ‘Loyalty is the only political virtue that matters,’ he wrote on Facebook. ‘Performatively virtue signaling against your friends and colleagues will not save you from the wrath of those who hate you. They will continue to stick by each other’s side until the very end, and until we do the same, we will never win. Capitulation is for losers.’” [Detroit Metro Times, 4/1/26]
Rogers’ Campaign Was “Focused On Jobs, Safety, And Affordability” And Claimed There Were “A Lot Of People Across The State, With Varying View Points, Who Want To Volunteer And Support That Mission.” According to the Detroit Metro Times, “Rogers’s campaign doesn’t see what all the fuss is about and blamed Democrats, who had nothing to do with this story. ‘Mike Rogers is running a campaign focused on jobs, safety, and affordability,’ campaign spokeswoman Alyssa Brouillet said. ‘As it turns out, there are a lot of people across the state, with varying view points, who want to volunteer and support that mission. Maybe the Democrats would have better luck recruiting their own volunteers if they spent less time misconstruing posts to attack ours and more time campaigning themselves—but I won’t hold my breath.’” [Detroit Metro Times, 4/1/26]