Michigan Democratic Sen. Gary Peters will not seek re-election when his term ends in Jan. 2027.
“Serving Michigan in the Congress has been the honor of my life. I’m forever grateful for the opportunity the people of my home state have given me,” the two-term senator and former congressman said in a statement on social media on Tuesday.
His decision to retire leaves open a senate seat in a key battleground state President Donald Trump won in 2024. But Democrats held a similarly open seat when Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., narrowly defeated Republican Mike Rogers in the 2024 race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow.
Peters was one of three Democratic senators up for re-election in the 2026 midterms that the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) was planning to heavily target as they aim to expand their current 53-47 majority in the Senate. The other two Democrats are Sens. Jon Ossoff of Georgia and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire.
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Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., speaks during Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, on Aug. 20, 2024. (REUTERS/Mike Segar)
Peters announced his retirement in an interview published in the Detroit News, saying that he will start a “new chapter” and spend more time with family after nearly two decades of public service.
“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 told the outlet.
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“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.”
Peters, the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, is interviewed by Fox News Digital, at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, on Aug.19, 2024. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Responding to the news, NRSC chair Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina argued in a statement that “Gary Peters is reading the room. After spending years ignoring illegal immigration and destroying his state’s auto industry, Michigan is better off without him.”
Scott emphasized that “we’re committed to giving them a fighter that will stand with President Trump to restore the economic prosperity and security of our country.”
The rival Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee noted that “no Republican has won a Michigan Senate race in 30 years – including last cycle when Democrats won an open Senate seat even as Trump won the state.”
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Donald Trump won the state of Michigan in the 2024 presidential election. (Nic Antaya/Getty Images)
And DSCC spokesman David Berstein also pledged that “Democrats will continue to hold this seat in 2026.”
Peters chaired the DSCC during the 2022 cycle, when the Democrats retained their slim majority, and during the 2024 cycle, when the GOP won back control of the chamber.
And Peters pledged “although I will not be on the ballot next year, I will not just walk away. I plan to actively campaign to ensure we elect a dynamic Democratic candidate to be the next U.S. Senator from Michigan.”
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Senate Democrats faced an extremely difficult map in the 2024 cycle as they lost control of the majority. An early read of the 2026 map indicates they’ll play defense in Michigan, Georgia, and New Hampshire, but may have a couple of opportunities to go on offense.
GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine is up for re-election in a reliably blue state. And Sen. Thom Tills of North Carolina is also up in 2026, in a battleground state Trump narrowly won this past November.
On news of Peters’ announcement, Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer quickly took herself out of consideration for his Senate seat.
“Governor Whitmer is grateful for Senator Peters’ service. She is proudly serving the people of Michigan as governor and is not running for this seat in the Senate,” a spokesperson for her political action committee, Fight Like Hell PAC, said in a statement to the Detroit News.
However, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate who moved his residency to Michigan a few years ago, is mulling a Senate bid.
“Pete is exploring all of his options on how he can be helpful and continue to serve. He’s honored to be mentioned for this, and he’s taking a serious look,” a source familiar tells Fox News.
Fox News’s Chad Pergram contributed to this report.