Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) will not seek reelection in 2024, opening a potentially competitive Senate seat Republicans will target as a pickup opportunity.
Stabenow, a member of Democratic Senate leadership, announced her decision Thursday morning, saying she wants to clear the way for a crop of new political leaders. She was first elected in 2000.
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“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 re-election and will leave the U.S. Senate at the end of my term on January 3, 2025,” she said in a statement.
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 re-election and will leave the U.S. Senate at the end of my term on January 3, 2025.
Read my full statement:https://t.co/qYJE6lyRJ3 pic.twitter.com/Fq659Aevs0
— Sen. Debbie Stabenow (@SenStabenow) January 5, 2023
The statement continued that she will keep focusing on her work on the Farm Committee and finish out the remaining two years of her term. Stabenow, 72, plans to spend time with family, including her 96-year-old mother, upon retirement.
Her retirement creates an open race in a swing state and gives Republicans better odds of flipping the seat than if there was a Democratic incumbent. In the last Michigan Senate election in 2020, Sen. Gary Peters (D) only narrowly beat Republican challenger John James, who won a House election in November, by 0.7 points. However, Republican Tudor Dixon’s 2022 challenge to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), the last statewide election, fell short by over 10 points.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee jumped at the opportunity Stabenow’s retirement presents in a statement Thursday morning.
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“Senate Democrats don’t even have a campaign chair yet and they are already dealing with a major retirement. We are going to aggressively target this seat in 2024,” NRSC spokesman Mike Berg said. “This could be the first of many Senate Democrats who decide to retire rather than lose.”
The cycle in 2024 will be more favorable for Senate Republicans, who will have fewer seats to defend than in 2022 and more ability to move aggressively on pickup opportunities.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer honored Stabenow in a statement released shortly after her announcement and voiced confidence Democrats will keep the seat.
“With Debbie’s help, and the strong Michigan Democratic Party she helped build, Debbie and I are confident Democrats will retain the seat,” he said.
