MI-SEN: Buttigieg considering U.S. Senate bid in Michigan, while Whitmer says she won't run [View all]

Lansing — Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg of Traverse City is considering a bid for Michigan's open U.S. Senate seat in 2026, two sources familiar with his thinking said Tuesday, after U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, abruptly announced he won't seek reelection.

Buttigieg, 43, a former presidential candidate who's viewed as a rising star by many in Democratic politics, had been floated as a potential candidate for governor next year. But the Peters decision had provided him — and many other Michigan politicians — a new career opportunity to weigh.

The two sources who declined to be identified because they weren't authorized to speak publicly about Buttigieg's deliberations said Buttigieg is now actively exploring a Senate bid in 2026.

Multiple Michigan Democrats had identified Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who can't seek reelection as governor in 2026 because of term limits, and Buttigieg as the top potential Democratic contenders for the Peters seat.

However, a spokeswoman for Whitmer's Fight Like Hell political action committee released Tuesday morning a statement that said Whitmer "is not running for this seat in the Senate."




https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2025/01/28/pete-buttigieg-considering-u-s-senate-michigan-bid-gretchen-whitmer-says-she-wont-run/77995300007/