Sen. Gary Peters will lead the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 2022 as the party seeks to secure its majority beyond Vice President Kamala Harris breaking ties.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced on Thursday the Michigan Democrat will lead the campaign committee, working with grassroots organizations across the country to mobilize voters to turnout for the midterm elections. Peters is the first Midwesterner to run DSCC in decades and will succeed Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto.
“Gary Peters is a hardworking, disciplined, and effective member of the Senate, and I know he will be an outstanding DSCC Chair to ensure Democrats protect our strong incumbents and go on offense to expand our majority,” Schumer, a New York Democrat, said in a statement.
Peters, 62, is a former House member who won his Senate seat in 2014, overcoming that year’s Republican wave, which gave the GOP the majority, as well as several House seats. Peters was reelected in November by less than 2 points, mirroring the relatively narrow victory for President Biden, who flipped back the swing state of Michigan in 2020.
Peters’s most recent campaign was one that broke fundraising records, bringing in more than $50 million for the 2020 cycle. He is the incoming Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, a seat formerly held by Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.
Both major parties will seek to defend their seats next year, given the tight majority currently led by Democrats. The party overtook the majority after two Senate runoffs in Georgia gave them newly elected Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, who ousted GOP incumbents Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, respectively.
Despite polls suggesting Democrats would flip several GOP-held Senate seats in November, most Republicans held on to their seats. However, Sen. Mark Kelly did defeat vulnerable Republican Martha McSally, giving the party two Democratic senators from Arizona. And Colorado Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper defeated his one-term Republican opponent Cory Gardner.
Historically, the party out of power gains seats in a president’s first midterm election, sometimes viewed as a referendum on the commander in chief. Republicans will have to defend 20 of their Senate seats in 2022, while Democrats will defend 14.
Peters urged supporters to donate to the Democratic fundraising site ActBlue and said he hopes to bring his experience winning close races to help defend seats next year.
“I look forward to drawing on my own experience winning tough races to continue that work, and I am grateful to Majority Leader Schumer and our caucus for trusting me with this responsibility,” Peters said in a statement. “We have a great opportunity in 2022 to defend and expand our Democratic majority so we can keep working to protect our health, rebuild our economy stronger than before and deliver real progress for the American people.”
