# Gary Peters ## Summary U.S. Senator from Michigan since 2015. Former U.S. Rep (MI-09/MI-14, 2009–2015) and Michigan Lottery Commissioner (2003–2007). Naval Reserve (Lt. Commander, retired). Finance-industry background (Merrill Lynch, Paine Webber). Announced retirement early 2025 for the 2026 cycle. ## Senate career - Two terms (2015–2027); re-elected 2020 by 1.68 pts over John James (closest Senate race of that cycle) - **DSCC chair 2021–2023** — credited with holding the Senate Democratic majority in 2022 (Fetterman/PA flip, [[Mark Kelly]]/AZ hold, Warnock/GA runoff win) - Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs ranking / chair - Commerce, Armed Services committees - Reputation as a low-drama technocrat; "boring = effective" political brand ## 2026: retirement Announced early 2025 that he would not seek a third term; cited desire to "pass the torch." Has not endorsed in the Democratic primary. See [[MI-Sen-2026]] for the open-seat race — one of the cycle's most closely watched, with El-Sayed / McMorrow / Stevens in a three-way Democratic fight and [[Mike Rogers]] running again as the R nominee. ## Related KB entities - [[MI-Sen-2026]] — his open seat - TBD: Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (Organizations/) ## Sources - [Wikipedia — Gary Peters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Peters)