OAN Staff Abril Elfi 
11:45 AM – Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Democrat Michigan Senator Gary Peters has announced that he will not be seeking a third term in 2026.

On Tuesday, Peters (D-Mich.), who led Democrat campaigning efforts the past two election cycles, has announced that he will step aside and not seek a third term.

“Our founding fathers envisioned members of Congress as citizens serving their country for a few terms and then returning to private life. I agree,” said Peters in a recorded statement. “After three terms in the House and two terms in the Senate, I believe now is time for me to write a few more paragraphs in my current chapter and turn over the reins. I will therefore not seek reelection in 2026.”

Peters, 66, served as chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 2022, when Democrats held all of their swing district seats and flipped a seat in Pennsylvania.

However, in 2024, Democrats lost four seats in Pennsylvania, Montana, Ohio, and West Virginia. 

Among the names most circulated to take over Peters’ position is Pete Buttigieg, Biden’s former U.S. transportation secretary who moved to Michigan in recent years. Another potential candidate suggested by political analysts is state Senator Mallory McMorrow, a Democrat official known for viral floor speech she gave in 2022.

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