Detroit City Councilwoman Mary Waters sat down for breakfast with Republican U.S. Senate nominee Mike Rogers and his wife, Kristi, Monday morning at Clique restaurant, a meeting that came as Waters continued to publicly question the direction and inclusiveness of Detroit’s Democratic Party leadership.
The breakfast at the Rivard and Jefferson location followed Waters’ criticism of the local Democratic Party after she said she was not invited to an official party unity breakfast earlier in the week. Waters discussed the issue publicly on Charlie Langton’s Fox 2 program, “Detroit Talk City,” raising questions about why she was left out of a gathering intended to bring Democrats together.
Rogers used the opening to meet with Waters, an at-large member of the Detroit City Council who represents voters across the city. Waters was reelected in November 2025, receiving 70,983 votes, or 36% of the vote, in the at-large City Council race. She finished as the leading vote-getter among all city council candidates.
For Waters, the meeting was grounded in her view of her responsibility to Detroit residents and the issues facing the city. She described herself as a lifelong Democrat and pointed to her history as the first Black woman to serve as Democratic Floor Leader in the Michigan Legislature when she was a state representative.
The breakfast also brought together two figures who will occupy different places on the political spectrum during a consequential Senate campaign. Rogers is now the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in Michigan, after entering the 2026 election cycle as the Republican candidate for the open seat. The general election is scheduled for November 3.
Waters said her decision to meet with Rogers was based on her responsibilities to Detroit and her willingness to speak with anyone positioned to influence the city’s future.
“Look, one of these guys (Rogers or the Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed) is going to be a U.S. Senator. I represent more than 700,000 Detroiters. More than 88% of Detroit school children can’t read at grade level. Michigan is 44th in education – lower than Mississippi. Detroit poverty is an American shame. Detroit is one of the worst cities in America for veterans. Our seniors are warehoused and deserve much more than they get now. And Detroit is not a DSA (Democratic Socialist of America) city. Damn betcha I met with Rogers; true he has Trump’s baggage, as do the Democrats. In our Detroit, the next Senator will also have three-and-a-half years without Trump,” said Waters.
Her comments placed education, poverty, veterans’ services, and the treatment of seniors at the center of her reasoning for the meeting. Waters has repeatedly framed her political work around issues she believes directly affect Detroit residents, and her remarks Monday emphasized that approach.
El-Sayed’s victory on the Democratic side followed a closely watched contest against U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens. Rogers previously ran for the Senate in 2024.
Waters’ own political standing in Detroit has been strengthened by her reelection to the City Council in the 2025. Her decision to meet Rogers therefore places a prominent Detroit elected official in direct conversation with a Republican Senate candidate during a campaign in which Detroit voters will be an important constituency.
It also underscored Waters’ stated willingness to engage political figures around the issues she says matter most to the people she represents. She added that political relationships can serve a practical purpose when the stakes involve Detroit residents and the city’s future.
“I represent more than 700,000 Detroiters,” she said.
That responsibility, Waters indicated, was sufficient reason to accept the invitation to sit down, share a meal, and make her concerns known.
