Swing-state Dem senator announces he will not run for re-election

Democratic Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan announced Tuesday that he will not run for re-election in 2026.

Peters was first elected to serve in the House in 2008 and was eventually elected to the Senate in 2014. After serving two terms in the Senate, Peters said he would like to "go back to private life."

'After spending years ignoring illegal immigration and destroying his state's auto industry, Michigan is better off without him.'

With the anticipated vacancy, political heavyweights like former Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg have already expressed interest in the Senate seat. At the same time, Michigan's mixed electorate could also give Republicans the opportunity to boost their Senate majority.

“I always thought there would be a time that I would step aside and pass the reins for the next generation," Peters said in an interview Tuesday. "I also never saw service in Congress as something you do your whole life."

“And that goes back to 2008, when I first won that House seat," Peters added. "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.”

With Democrats potentially losing a seat in the Senate, Republicans are keen to take advantage of the upcoming vacancy.

"Gary Peters is reading the room," Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the NRSC chairman, said in a press release. "After spending years ignoring illegal immigration and destroying his state's auto industry, Michigan is better off without him."

"We're committed to giving them a fighter that will stand with President Trump to restore the economic prosperity and security of our country," Scott added.

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