The dust is settling after U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Oakland County) announced he’ll not be seeking reelection in 2026 after two Senate terms, instead content to “pass the torch” to a new generation of leaders.
At 66, Peters is young compared to his Senate colleagues and has only been in office since 2015. In a video he posted to YouTube, he said he’s ready to spend more time with his family and, in particular, his new grandchild in California.
Dave Dulio, political science professor at Oakland University, said that Peters’ decision won’t set a standard or start a wave of members of congress retiring before they turn 70.
Peters is arguably in his prime as a legislator, Dulio said, and is valued in the party as evidenced by his position on the campaign arm and his appointment to the appropriations committee. Those reasons play a part in why this is getting so much attention, he said.
Former U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, a past Peters colleague, said that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which Peters chaired for two straight cycles, will often burn someone out, and he’s not surprised with his decision.
Upton said that in their time serving in the Michigan Congressional delegation, they maintained a good relationship and were never at odds.
While Dulio doesn’t have any immediate predictions on which office, if any, Peters might be eyeing, he also said “never say never in politics.”
Serving the last two years of your final term while in the minority of a Republican trifecta opens up the opportunity for Peters to say or vote for things he might not otherwise if he was running for reelection. He could get more rowdy or outspoken as a member of the minority, but Dulio said that Peters’ work in Congress since 2007 has shown that Peters is more of a work horse than a show horse.
To Dulio’s point, Peters says that in the 117th Congress, he was the author and principal sponsor of the most bills enacted into law by any one senator in more than 40 years.
Dulio did say, however, that he was surprised by some of the affirmative votes that Peters made during cabinet confirmations last week, which could have been an early signal that he’s not taking reelection into consideration in these votes.
The 2026 election will be a Trump midterm vote. Historically, the party of a second-term president doesn’t do well in those elections, Dulio said, which should put Democrats in a good position.
“Not enough people are going to talk about this early enough,” Dulio said about the strategies that Democrats will need heading into the spring of 2026. Republicans are feeling good at the start of the second Trump administration, but that doesn’t mean they’ll get complacent or put up bad candidates for that Senate race – or any other race, for that matter.
Take 2022 as an example. Republicans had the leg-up due to former President Joe Biden, a Democrat, giving them lots to campaign on, but the political strategy wrote itself after Roe v. Wade was overruled with the Dobbs v. Jackson decision that summer, resulting in a Democratic trifecta in state government.
Now, Dulio said he’s not willing to say there’s a party realignment happening of the working class – yet. But he did say that we’re in the middle of a change to both parties’ coalitions of voters. Union labor is a group in which Peters has had a strong footing, so who can take that place?
Lansing Mayor Andy Schor agreed that the person who takes Peters’ place on ballot will need to be listening to the people that represent working families, small business, advanced manufacturing and all of Michigan’s industries and professions.
Schor, who worked for Peters for five years while he was in the state Senate, recalled a time in Peters’ state Senate office when they were in the district talking to voters about issues that mattered to them. They listened to someone describe the problem they see with convicted felons being able to purchase body armor that they could use in armed robberies. Peters approached the Judiciary Committee chair and worked legislation out with him and saw the bills passed into law.
“This was democracy in action,” Schor said. “To me, that’s how government is supposed to work.”
Schor said Peters was a mentor to him. He tells people that if he’s doing something right, it’s something Gary Peters taught him, and if he’s doing something wrong, he must have screwed up something Peters told him.
“He’s a wonderful man. He deserves time with his family and his new grandchild,” Schor said.
Schor said when he was deciding to run for office, he was working for Peters as his legislative director. He gave Peters his recommendation on how to vote on a bill, but the two didn’t see eye-to-eye on it.
“He said, ‘Andy, you’ve made a good argument, but I am the name on the ballot, and someday you will be the name on the ballot and you will take advice and you will make the decision. But today, I am the name on the ballot,’” Schor recalled. He said that conversation got him thinking that he did want to be the name on the ballot. Not long after that, he ran for county commission.
When asked if Schor has any advice for U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly) since she’ll become Michigan’s senior senator only two years into her first term, Schor said she knows what she’s doing and doesn’t need his advice.
“She is so capable,” Schor said.
Slotkin said that Peters is a mentor and dear friend who has helped her in her transition to the U.S. Senate. She said he has a reputation as a no-nonsense, bipartisan legislator.
“But as Gary himself said, there’s a lot of work to do for Michigan over the next two years – and I look forward to continuing our work together,” Slotkin said.
U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn) shared in a statement that through the work they did together on PFAS, clean water, strengthening the auto industry and local manufacturing, that Peters has been a longtime friend and committed public servant.
“Our state is better thanks to his service, and I wish him the best in what he decides to do next,” Dingell said.
Article courtesy MIRS News for SBAM’s Lansing Watchdog newsletter
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