Senator Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., speaks during a Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee hearing titled Lessons on the Fall of FTX, at the Dirksen Building on Wednesday Year, December 1, 2022.
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Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow, a member of the Democratic leadership, announced Thursday that she will not run for a fifth term in 2024, to open up a seat in the key battleground state.
The news could come as a shock to many Democrats in the state as Stabenow had not previously indicated that she would not run for re-election.
“Inspired by a new generation of leaders, I have decided to pass the torch on in the United States Senate. Today I announce that I will not be running for re-election and will leave the United States Senate at the end of my term. on January 3, 2025,” Stabenow said in a statement.
Democrats will face a test to find a candidate with the broad support of Stabenow, who was first elected to the Senate in 2000. She has been easily re-elected since. there.
She joined the House of Representatives in 1996. In 2000, she made history by becoming the first woman elected senator in Michigan, defeating a Republican incumbent. She overturned GOP challenges in 2006 and 2012 and defeated new politician John James, by 6.5 percentage points in 2018. James was elected to the House of Representatives in November.
Stabenow, 72, of Lansing, is the longest-serving member of the state’s congressional delegation. She was recently appointed chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, making her the third-ranked party leader and head of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee.
Stabenow most recently joined the bipartisan legislation aimed at increasing scrutiny of cryptocurrencies. She has also led efforts to expand and increase funding for mental health care nationally and in Michigan.
The announcement is expected to make Michigan’s 2024 Senate race one of the most competitive in the country.
While the current political climate in Michigan favors the Democrats after the midterm elections in which they overthrew the state’s House of Representatives and Senate, the state is still expected to be one of the nation’s top battlegrounds. country in the 2024 presidential election.
Only one Michigan Republican has held a seat in the Senate in the past 40 years.
The date of Michigan’s primaries remains undecided after the rule-making arm of the Democratic National Committee voted to put Michigan on the party’s presidential primary schedule in 2024. The entire DNC passed the plan, where, as expected, Michigan would be the fifth state to vote in the preliminary process on February 27.
The Republican National Committee has set their main schedule, and Michigan is not in the first five states. If Michigan Republicans go ahead with the March 1 primaries to align with the Democrats’ plan, they could face significant national Republican sanctions.
