Sen. Stabenow of Michigan won't run again in 2024
Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a member of the Democratic leadership, announced Thursday she will not run for a fifth term in 2024, opening a seat in the key battleground state.
The news likely comes as a shock to many Democrats in the state because Stabenow had not previously indicated that she would not seek reelection. Stabenow's impending retirement turns Michigan's next Senate race into one of the most competitive in the country.
“Inspired by a new generation of leaders, I have decided to pass the torch in the U.S. Senate. I am announcing today that I will not seek reelection and will leave the U.S. Senate at the end of my term on Jan. 3, 2025,” Stabenow said in a statement.
Democrats will face a test to find a candidate with the broad support of the 72-year-old Stabenow, first elected to the Senate in 2000 after earlier terms in the House and Michigan's House and Senate.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee, which works to elect Republicans, said in a statement after Stabenow's announcement that it would “aggressively target this seat in 2024.”
While the current political climate in Michigan favors Democrats following a midterm election where they flipped the state House and Senate, the state is still expected to be one of the nation's premier battlegrounds in the 2024 presidential election.
Only one Michigan Republican has held a seat in the Senate in the past 40 years.
Stabenow joined the U.S. House in 1996. In 2000, she made history by becoming the first woman to be elected senator in Michigan, defeating a Republican incumbent. She turned back GOP challenges in 2006 and 2012 and 2018.