Debbie Stabenow retirement: Who's in, who's out on 2024 US Senate race

Todd Spangler
Dave Boucher
Detroit Free Press
January 7, 2023

U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow's surprise announcement Thursday that she won't run for a fifth term in 2024 sent shock waves across Michigan's political landscape, as potential candidates began making initial calculations and handicappers started speculating about who's likely in and who's out.

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Who's out (at least, we think they're out)

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That includes Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who put out a statement praising Stabenow's service and indicating she had every intention of remaining Michigan's governor "for the next four years." Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a recent transplant into Michigan, also said they had no plans to seek the seat, as did U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township, and former U.S. Rep. Andy Levin, D-Bloomfield Township.

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Who might get in?

U.S. Reps. Elissa Slotkin of Lansing, Haley Stevens of Birmingham and Debbie Dingell of Ann Arbor are known to be giving it consideration. Slotkin — a former acting assistant Defense Department secretary — could be a particularly powerful candidate, since she's known for raising scads of money and winning tough, competitive races, as could be Stevens, a former chief of staff to President Barack Obama's auto task force. Dingell can fairly claim near-universal name recognition in the state, is close to President Joe Biden and has key contacts on both sides of the political aisle.

There is much speculation that Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson or state Attorney General Dana Nessel could mount strong bids for the job.

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Full article

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On the GQP side, the article mentions Tudor Dixon (ugh), John James (ugh), Fred Upton, and Peter Meijer, among others. Upton and Meijer are too sane to make it out of the primary, so we have a really good chance at keeping the seat. Besides, Michiganders haven't elected a RepubliQan to the Senate since 1973, so there's that. We have a very deep bench, the other side, not so much.

My personal favorite is Benson, but Slotkin, my rep, would be great, too. It's going to be an interesting process.