LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A lawmaker from Detroit is joining the crowded field of Democrats vying for the battleground state’s open Senate seat, one of the most critical races as the party aims to regain a majority in the 2026 midterm election.
Michigan state Rep. Joe Tate launched his campaign Sunday to compete against three other Democrats seeking the seat left open by retiring Democratic U.S. Sen. Gary Peters.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Tate spoke about his campaign goals and referenced his grandparents, who came to Detroit from Alabama as part of the Great Migration.
“I’m running for the U.S. Senate, because I want to continue to keep that promise that my grandparents came up to Michigan for,” he said.
To become the Democratic nominee, the former marine and NFL football player will have to convince voters to look past significant setbacks to the state party under his leadership.
Tate made history in 2022 when he became the first Black speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives, the highest position in the chamber. That fall, Democrats swept statewide offices and gained historic “trifecta” control of both chambers of the Legislature and the governor’s office.
Democrats passed significant legislation on gun control, climate change, reproductive rights and labor, repealing the state’s “right to work” law.
But their momentum stalled ahead of the 2024 fall elections and fell apart after Republicans won back the state House in November. Tate announced after the election that he would not seek a leadership role among House Democrats the next year.
In the final days of the legislative session, internal divisions among Democrats caused Tate to abruptly end the session. The move effectively killed dozens of bills including key Democratic priorities on economic development, road funding, ghost guns and reproductive health data.
Republicans took control in January, and the Legislature has been deadlocked on most topics since.
Many Democrats and Republicans alike have blamed Tate for disastrous final days when Democrats still had control.
Nine bills from the 2024 session approved by both chambers have still not been presented to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. The new Republican speaker of the House has said it was Tate’s job to get them to Whitmer’s desk.
“It’s just unfortunate that some people decided to stop coming to work when the job wasn’t done,” Tate said in response, referencing one Democrat and the entire Republican caucus who boycotted the final days of session in order to stall it.
Tate said he is proud of the work Democrats accomplished while they held the majority in the Legislature, referencing legislation on universal background checks to purchase firearms and free breakfast and lunch for school children.
“I see kids with full bellies in schools because of what we did,” he said.
A deep bench of Democrats began to eye the U.S. Senate seat after Peters this year announced plans to retire at the end of his term. U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and former gubernatorial candidate and public health official Abdul El-Sayed have all launched campaigns for the position.
On the Republican side, former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers is running again after losing to Democrat Elissa Slotkin in the state’s 2024 U.S. Senate race by just 19,000 votes.
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