A Senate seat will open up in Michigan at the end of 2026 as Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, who has served in the upper chamber of Congress since 2015, said on Tuesday that he won’t seek re-election.
Peters told The Detroit News that he’s always viewed his time in Congress as a short-term job with the goal of returning “to private life.” The 66-year-old senator also served in the House of Representatives from 2009 to 2015.
“I always thought there would be a time that I would step aside and pass the reins for the next generation. I also never saw service in Congress as something you do your whole life,” Peters said. “And that goes back to 2008 when I first won that House seat. I thought it would be for a matter of a few terms that I would serve, and then I would go back to private life.”
He added that he’s “not retiring” — he’s “just not running for re-election in the Senate.”
“I hope, God willing, I have a lot more good years ahead,” Peters said.
Throughout his career, Peters has been portrayed as a moderate Democrat. However, he voted with former President Joe Biden more than most Democrats in Congress, going along with Biden’s agenda 99% of the time.
The Michigan senator will follow in the footsteps of his former Democratic colleague, Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who retired from the Senate when her term ended at the start of 2025. Stabenow, 74, said in 2023 that she wanted to “pass the torch” to a “new generation of leaders.” She had served in the Senate since 2001.
Peters narrowly won re-election in 2020, defeating current Republican Rep. John James by less than 2%. His decision to step aside instead of running for re-election in 2026 will blow the Senate race wide open as Republicans look to cement their hold on Congress in the midterm elections. The GOP currently holds a 53-47 majority in the Senate along with its slim majority in the House.
Michigan has proven to be a tough battleground for Republicans, especially in Senate races. While President Donald Trump has won the state twice — once in 2016 and again in 2024 — no Republican has won a Senate seat in Michigan since the 1994 election. The 2024 election for Stabenow’s former seat was another victory for Democrats as Sen. Elissa Slotkin defeated Republican Mike Rogers by fewer than 20,000 votes.
