CatholicVote President and CEO headlines event in Michigan ahead of midterms

Ahead of what one CatholicVote official described as arguably the most important Senate race in the U.S., the organization’s President and CEO Kelsey Reinhardt will hold a Q&A event in Plymouth, Michigan, Sept. 29, to speak with voters and encourage them to engage in a crucial midterm election. 

Registration is now open for the event titled “Michigan & the Midterms,” which will be held at St. John’s Resort, a high-end venue, golf course, and luxury hotel, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Drinks and heavy hors d’oeuvres will be served. 

Mark Houck, a father, longtime pro-life advocate, and major gifts officer for CatholicVote, will also give an address at the event about the weaponization of government, reminding about the difference that elections can make for the day-to-day lives of Americans. 

Catholic voter engagement in Michigan is a key factor in the outcome of the elections, as the state has become a political battleground determined by narrow voting margins. The Sept. 29 event is an opportunity to inform local citizens about what is at stake as pro-socialist and concerning agendas gain momentum ahead of the midterms, according to Reinhardt. 

“CatholicVote has prioritized Michigan for years, and we will remain invested long after 2026. But this election is different.” she told Zeale News. “Abdul El-Sayed is promising to codify Roe, protect gender-transition procedures and impose a sweeping government-run healthcare system. In MI-7, William Lawrence has attacked the nuclear family and advocated for a world without police and prisons.” 

“These are direct threats to the faith, safety and way of life of Michigan families,” Reinhardt added. “We are building the permanent infrastructure needed to defeat this agenda now and for years to come.”

After El-Sayed won Michigan’s Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in early August, CatholicVote Vice President of Advocacy Joshua Mercer had warned that the politician supports “radical socialist policies” and urged Catholic voters to instead elect Republican nominee Mike Rogers, as Zeale News previously reported. 

Ahead of the Sept. 29 CatholicVote event, Reinhardt emphasized to Zeale News that voters must engage to combat the socialist movement.

“Socialism does not simply threaten our economy,” she said. “It threatens the family, religious freedom, private property, and the right of parents to raise their children according to their faith — the foundations of the Catholic American way of life. Michigan Catholics cannot afford to sit this election out.”

Similarly, Houck said in a statement to Zeale News that the outcome of the El-Sayed-Rogers contest is pivotal and that the Sept. 29 event marks a key opportunity to talk with local voters. 

“Michigan is arguably the most important Senate race in the country,” Houck said. “This event will give us an opportunity to encourage and motivate Michigan voters and lend our resources to help Mike Rogers take the victory in November.”

Houck will focus his address on the weaponization of government — which is not a mere hypothetical but a harrowing reality his family experienced in September 2022. Houck was arrested at gunpoint in front of his family in their Pennsylvania home by several FBI agents and was charged with allegedly violating the controversial FACE Act. Houck and his wife sued the Biden administration’s Department of Justice in 2024, arguing it used “excessive force” in the arrest. He was acquitted of all charges in 2023, and won more than $1 million in the suit in April 2026. 

Houck told Zeale News that at the Sept. 29 event he will be sharing his story of victory against the Biden administration “to further solidify our Michigan pro-life and Catholic voter base. My story has a very compelling element to it, which I believe will galvanize the necessary support to secure the victory and enable CatholicVote to do our part in saving Michigan.”

Due to limited space, RSVPs are required to attend the event. Space is available to the first 75 people to register. Those interested can learn more and sign up here.