Three people familiar with the discussions said that another leading Democratic candidate for the vacant Senate seat in Michigan has started telling her colleagues that she will not be running for the office. This has reduced the number of candidates for the seat, which Democrats are becoming more concerned about losing in the upcoming election.
Some Michigan Democrats are worried about their ability to field a top-tier candidate to challenge the Republican who came close to winning the seat last year in light of Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet’s decision to remain in the House. Rivet is a freshman Democrat who won a crucial battleground seat last year.
Two sources familiar with the matter said that McDonald Rivet met with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer earlier this month in an effort to further explore the possibility of a candidacy. Following Pete Buttigieg’s decision not to run, she was pushed to run by prominent Michiganders, notably former senator Debbie Stabenow. According to Whitmer’s associates, top Democrats, including Schumer, actively courted Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, but she always rejected to run.
We should all place ourselves in a position to do the greatest good right now. In a statement, McDonald Rivet expressed her excitement about running for re-election in a very competitive district. She added that she hopes to play a role in reclaiming the House and advancing an agenda that supports the working people in her neighborhoods.
In 2026, when Democrats face an already difficult map and must contend with important retirements (such as Sen. Gary Peters’ in Michigan), the outcome of Michigan’s Senate seat will be pivotal. One of the top possible GOP candidates, former Rep. Mike Rogers, who lost to now-Sen. Elissa Slotkin by less than 20,000 votes last year, is working closely with Trump adviser Chris LaCivita. Trump won the battleground state in two of the previous three presidential elections.
Although there is still a long way to go until the August 2026 primary, several sources have informed HEADLINESFOREVER that the anticipated field of four candidates is already practically decided. Some Democrats are so worried about a costly and bloody internal party struggle for their nominee that they are pushing for the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm to think about getting involved, because there is no obvious frontrunner and a lot of tension inside the party.
According to a senior Democrat in the race, “this is going to be a very messy primary.” This means that Schumer and his political arm may have to pick a side in order to protect their nominee from potential damage.
The announcement of Rep. Haley Stevens’s race is expected to be made in the coming days, according to two individuals familiar with her intentions. She had originally intended to launch at the end of April. Last month, Stevens had a meeting with Schumer as well.
Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive who was the director of health in Detroit and ran unsuccessfully for governor in the 2018 statewide primary, is anticipated to join the race soon. Mallory McMorrow, a state senator who irritated some national Democrats last month by demanding Schumer’s resignation, is already running for office. Joe Tate, a former NFL player and speaker of the Michigan House, is poised to join the race as a fourth contender.
So far, national Democrats have made it clear that they will not be participating in the primary. However, those who are closely watching the campaign have also seen that Stevens has recruited Christie Roberts, a prominent party strategist who just started her own business following two terms as the top staffer at the DSCC. (McMorrow has brought on board Lis Smith, a former Buttiegig and Obama advisor, who is a prominent Democratic strategist.)
After successfully flipping a Republican seat in 2018, Stevens was first elected to Congress. She had previously worked as Obama’s chief adviser on the auto rescue team. The next year, in a redistricting matching primary, she defeated a fellow Democrat, demonstrating that she had the financial clout—aided in no little part by her ally AIPAC—to survive costly contests.
Two sources familiar with the matter said that AIPAC has informed Democrats of their intention to invest substantially on Stevens’s primary campaign. Since they normally stay out of statewide contests, the pro-Israel group would be making a bold step if they did this.
Nonetheless, Stevens’s safety in such a drawn-out national primary is a secret concern for even her closest allies. They bring out instances that have attracted attention, including her 2019 handling of a controversial town hall meeting about gun violence or her now-famous 2020 floor address in which she yelled out about COVID-19 over the gavel of her own party.
Next year’s departing senator, Gary Peters, told HEADLINESFOREVER he intends to be “fully engaged” in the race to ensure that Democrats retain the seat. He has spoken highly of the “very strong bench of young, dynamic folks in Michigan” who he believes will run for office, but he has no intention of endorsing a candidate in the primary.
After saying, “I want to be absolutely sure that we hold a seat in Democratic hands,” Peters went on to say that he thinks anti-Trump enthusiasm would help propel his party to victories in Michigan and other crucial states in 2026.
I’m sure next year we’ll face a lot more resistance. It’s going to be a banner year for Democrats.