Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich. took aim at President Donald Trump on Tuesday as she launched a bid for the open U.S. Senate seat in the crucial Great Lakes battleground state.
In a video announcing her candidacy, Stevens was flanked by vehicles as she criticized the Trump administration’s tariff policies and vows to protect Michigan’s auto industry.
“[Trump’s] chaos and reckless tariffs are putting tens of thousands of Michigan jobs at risk,” Stevens charged. She also accused the Trump administration of bringing “chaos.”
“Haley will work to bring down costs for Michigan families, continue to boost Michigan’s manufacturing and auto industries, and stand up to the Trump-Musk chaos agenda,” a statement on Stevens’ campaign website reads.
REPUBLICAN LAUNCHES SECOND STRAIGHT BID TO FLIP DEMOCRAT-HELD SENATE SEAT IN KEY BATTLEGROUND
Stevens, who has represented a seat covering parts of suburban Detroit since first winning election to Congress in 2018, highlighted her work to improve America’s auto industry during the Obama administration – and included a clip of former President Barack Obama giving her a shoutout.
Stevens is the third prominent Democrat to throw her hat in the ring in the 2026 race to succeed retiring two-term Democratic Sen. Gary Peters.
Earlier this month, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, a rising star in the party, announced her candidacy. McMorrow gained national attention in 2022, thanks to a viral speech she gave in the Michigan Senate as she forcefully pushed back against a Republican lawmaker who had accused her of “grooming” children.
Abdul El-Sayed, the former director of Wayne County’s Department of Health, jumped into the race last week. El-Sayed, who ran unsuccessfully for the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial nomination, was endorsed by progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., as he launched his Senate bid.
Former Michigan state House Speaker Joe Tate is also seriously considering a run for the Democratic Senate nomination.
Last month, Pete Buttigieg, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate who later served as Transportation Secretary in former President Joe Biden’s administration, ruled out a campaign after seriously considering a bid.
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As Fox News first reported, former Rep. Mike Rogers, who was the GOP Senate nominee in Michigan in last year’s election, last week launched a second straight Republican run for the Senate.
Rogers, a former FBI special agent who later served as chair of the House Intelligence Committee during his tenure in Congress, narrowly lost to Rep. Elissa Slotkin, the Democrats’ nominee, in last November’s election in the race to succeed longtime Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who retired. Slotkin, who vastly outspent Rogers, edged him by roughly 19,000 votes, or a third of a percentage point.
But Rogers may not have the GOP field to himself.
Earlier this month, longtime Michigan Republican Rep. Bill Huizenga told Fox News that his phone “hasn’t stopped ringing” since Peters’ announcement.
The Senate race in Michigan is expected to be one of the most high profile and expensive contests of the 2026 election cycle.
The seat is one of three held by the Democrats that the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) is planning to heavily target as it aims to expand the GOP’s current 53-47 majority in the chamber. The other two are in New Hampshire, where longtime Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is retiring rather than running for re-election in 2026, and Georgia, where the GOP considers a first-term Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff vulnerable.
