U.S. Senator Gary Peters announced he won't run for his seat for another term
Zoe Clark, political director at Michigan Public and co-host of It's Just Politics, tells us Peters has spent more than 20 years in government and, if he'd run and won again, the 66-year-old Democrat could have been in the Senate into his mid-70s.
Peters' choice to leave may lose Michigan some influential committees, such as the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
Peters' announcement also comes on the heels of former Senator Debbie Stabenow's retirement, meaning Michigan will have two relatively new Senators after the next general election. And with control of the Senate held by a slim Republican majority, the seat Peters is vacating will command a lot of attention.
When it comes to candidates for Peters' seat, Clark and It's Just Politics co-host Rick Pluta said Governor Gretchen Whitmer won't be in the race (a spokesperson denied her interest) but former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg might — or, they said, he might run for the governorship.
The seat will come up for election in the 2026 midterms, and while midterms tend to go well for parties that don't hold the White House, Pluta says there are just too many open seats and moving parts for Democrats to be expecting big wins.
"Let's also not forget that at the top of the ballot is going to be the gubernatorial race," Pluta said. "And Michigan historically does not replace a governor of one party with a governor of the same party."
As for Peters, with President Donald Trump in the White House, he probably feels this is the appropriate time to hand the torch to the next generation.
"And he wants to just go ride his motorcycle," joked Clark.
Hear Zoe Clark and Rick Pluta's full conversation with April Baer on the Stateside podcast.
[Get Stateside on your phone: subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or YouTube Music today.]
GUESTS ON TODAY’S SHOW:
- Zoe Clark, political director at Michigan Public and co-host of the It's Just Politics podcast
- Rick Pluta, reporter and producer for the Michigan Public Radio Network and co-host of the It's Just Politics podcast
