Gas prices have shot up by more than 40 percent since the Iran war began in February.
Michigan Republican Mike Rogers looked at what that is doing to families and reportedly broke with the hawks in his party.
Then JD Vance delivered his verdict at a CBS town hall, and the Democrat in the race got one too.
Vance Calls Rogers Courageous for Breaking With the War Hawks
The town hall took place in Flat Rock, Michigan, with CBS anchor Tony Dokoupil asking the questions.
Vance said Rogers has been remarkably independent on the war.
He said it is not easy for a Republican running for Senate in Michigan to call for ending it, and that Rogers was willing to stand against his party to do it.
"I think Mike is a courageous guy," Vance said.
Coming from Vance, that carries weight.
As a senator in 2024, he voted against the 95 billion dollar foreign aid package while party leaders rammed it through.
He has been one of the loudest America First voices in Washington against open-ended foreign wars.
Now he is claiming well-known neocon Mike Rogers agrees with him.
Rogers Wants the War Over?
Rogers is no peacenik.
He served as an Army officer, worked as an FBI special agent, and chaired the House Intelligence Committee.
He backed President Trump's strikes on Iran when they began.
By September, Rogers said the war needs to end quickly.
Iowa's Ashley Hinson and Wisconsin's Tom Tiffany, both Republicans on the ballot this cycle, have made the same call.
They see what Michigan sees.
Regular gas is averaging more than four dollars a gallon, diesel has hit record highs, and only a third of Americans approve of the war.
Vance made the America First case in plain terms.
He said America has in some ways already won the war.
Asked whether Iran's nuclear program was destroyed, Vance said yes.
Trump's strikes did the job.
And without the Navy guarding the Strait of Hormuz, Vance said, gas would cost three times as much.
What the administration still wants is a long-term, verifiable commitment from Tehran never to rebuild.
Lock in the win, keep Iran away from the bomb, and stop spending American money and American strength on a war that has already delivered.
That is America First.
El-Sayed Wants Out for All the Wrong Reasons
Abdul El-Sayed also says the war should end.
Listen to why.
Vance noted that El-Sayed keeps blasting the decisions made by the president and the military.
So what is his solution?
Vance said it is easy to take shots at calls made roughly seven months earlier.
In April, a Fox News anchor asked El-Sayed whether the world would be better off without Iran's radicals running the show.
"Radicalism of any sort is bad," El-Sayed said, before turning his fire on the MAGA movement for pulling America into war.
Leaked audio had already caught him explaining why he would not take a public position on the death of Ayatollah Khamenei, pointing to sentiment in Dearborn.
At their October debate, he wouldn't say whether Iran or Israel was the bigger threat.
"I think both of them have proven dangerous in their own way," El-Sayed said.
He argued diplomacy could end the war even if Iran held onto the ability to build a nuclear weapon.
After a gunman attacked a Michigan synagogue in March, El-Sayed condemned it, then drew outrage for adding that "hurt people, hurt people."
He later apologized.
At an August rally, Vance called him "very evil" for qualifying that condemnation.
Two Candidates Want Peace and Vance Says Only One Puts America First
America First was never about pacifism.
It means American interests come first, every single time.
Rogers wants the war over because it is draining Michigan families and the job is done.
El-Sayed wants it over while blaming MAGA, ducking questions about the Ayatollah, and leaving Tehran a path to the bomb.
One of those men is thinking about Michigan.
The other is thinking about how his answers play with the left-wing base that powers his campaign.
Washington's permanent war crowd will never forgive Rogers for breaking ranks.
Vance just made clear the America First movement has his back.
The seat is open because Democrat Gary Peters chose not to run again, and whoever wins it could decide whether Trump has a Senate that works with him for the rest of his term.
Rogers is the man who can win it.
Sources:
- Ian Hanchett, "Vance: 'Courageous' Rogers Willing 'to Stand Against His Own Party' by Saying We Should End Iran War," Breitbart, October 17, 2026.
- Elaine Mallon, "Top Takeaways from JD Vance Town Hall: Costly Gas, DC Corruption, Immigration Hot Takes and the War," Fox News, October 17, 2026.
- Andrew Mark Miller and Paul Steinhauser, "Senate Candidate Ripped over 'Word Salad' Response to Whether World Is Better Off Without Ayatollah," Fox News, April 2, 2026.
- Nicole Silverio, "Lindsey Graham's Sister on Ending Iran War: 'Why in the World Would We Stop Now?'," BizPac Review, October 12, 2026.
- Ari Hoffman, "Mike Rogers 'Obliterates' Abdul El-Sayed in Explosive Michigan Senate Debate," The Post Millennial, October 9, 2026.
- Emily Hallas, "Vance Hosts Members from Michigan Synagogue Attack at Rally After El-Sayed Apology," Washington Examiner, August 31, 2026.
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