Campaigns Beginning for 2024 Michigan U.S. Senate Race

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - Candidates vying to be Michigan’s next U.S. Senator are revving up their campaigns for the 2024 race to fill the seat that Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) will leave open when she retires.

Two Republicans and one Democrat now in the running in what’s regarded as a key battleground state for both parties fighting for control of the Senate in 2024.

“This is a presidential battleground state in a presidential year and, you know, one that, you know, Trump won in 2016, but then the Biden flipped back in 2020,” said Jessica Taylor, the Senate and Governors Editor for the Cook Political Report.

Taylor says the departure of Sen. Stabenow, a longtime incumbent, should give Republicans a better chance at the seat since open seats are usually easier to flip than running against incumbents, especially in a state that she says is still very competitive.

So far, two GOP candidates have formally entered the race including State Board of Education member and registered nurse Nikki Snyder. Health care and education are some of the key priorities in her campaign.

“Looking to my left and looking to my right, realizing how many parents don’t have a voice and returning voices to parents is a big deal to me. Serving on the State Board of Education for the last six years. That’s that’s one of the biggest issues we’ve heard over and over and over again,” said Snyder.

Businessman Michael Hoover is another Republican running for the seat. If elected, he says he will tackle the cost of living by making cuts.

“The first thing I would do is I would go after spending. We have to do cuts across the board and we know we know there’s fraud, not so much fraud, but there’s waste in everything that’s here and it’s over the top,” said Hoover.

Other potential GOP candidates include representatives Peter Meijer and Lisa McClain and 2022 Michigan gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon.

On the Democratic side, Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) is the only one running so far. But unlike with Republicans, Taylor says Slotkin is a clear frontrunner for the party.

“It really does feel like Slotkin and National Democrats view it this way, too, has effectively cleared the field,” said Taylor.

Another potential democratic candidate is actor Hill Harper.

She added that she believes the onus is on Republicans in the state to prove that they can have a competitive candidate.

“The state of the party for Republicans is not great,” said Taylor. “And they have to have a very strong nominee that can appeal across party in a way that Dixon was unable to it that can raise money. But getting a candidate through a primary that is increasingly dominated by activists can be difficult.”

The Cook Political Report currently rates the race as lean Democratic.

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