Stabenow's retirement scrambles Michigan Senate race in 2024 [View all]

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Last edited Thu Jan 5, 2023, 03:17 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: AP

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a member of the Democratic leadership, announced Thursday that she will not run for a fifth term in 2024, a surprise decision that opens up a seat in the key battleground state. The news shocked many Democrats in the state because the 72-year-old 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 as Democrats try to preserve their slim majority. “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 January 3, 2025,” Stabenow said in a statement.

Democrats will face a test to find a candidate with Stabenow’s broad support. On the GOP side, 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.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-politics-debbie-stabenow-michigan-afb0e42225f76bd8def5eab701ae1297

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Short article at post time.

Article updated.

Original article/headline -

Democratic Sen. Stabenow of Michigan won't run again in 2024

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a member of the Democratic leadership, announced Thursday that she will not run for a fifth term in 2024, opening up 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.

“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 January 3, 2025,” Stabenow said in a statement.

Democrats will face a test to find a candidate with the broad support of Stabenow, first elected to the Senate in 2001. She has easily won reelection since then.