Former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg discussed a potential Senate bid in Michigan with Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) last week, according to individuals familiar with the conversation.
While sources told Politico that Buttigieg remains undecided about entering the race to replace retiring Michigan senator Gary Peters (D.), the meeting signals that he is seriously considering a run. Buttigieg, who was born in South Bend, Ind., and served from 2012 to 2020 as the city’s mayor before mounting a failed presidential campaign, moved to Michigan in 2022.
Buttigieg’s potential bid comes as Republicans consider Michigan a prime pickup opportunity, having nearly flipped the state’s other Senate seat in the last election. President Donald Trump carried the battleground state in 2024.
The former Biden official has been no stranger to controversy. While Buttigieg recently criticized “diversity trainings” as too left-wing, his mayoral administration implemented a series of trainings that instructed police on “sizeism” and “languageism” even as the city faced a surge in violent crime. As a 2020 presidential candidate, Buttigieg supported taxpayer-funded gender transition surgeries for federal inmates and illegal immigrants.
With Peters and Sen. Tina Smith (D., Minn.) not seeking reelection, Democrats face an uphill battle to regain control of the Senate, needing to defend 2 open seats and achieve a net gain of 4 to overturn the GOP’s 53-47 majority.
Buttigieg, who has yet to take any formal steps to run for Senate, would likely face a competitive primary against state senator Mallory McMorrow and congresswoman Haley Stevens. McMorrow has told Democrats that she will run for the seat, while Stevens has started hiring campaign staff, according to Politico.
