Representative Haley Stevens, a moderate Democrat who represents suburban Detroit, entered the race for Senate in Michigan on Tuesday, casting herself as a proud native daughter pushing back against Trumpian chaos.
“The same groceries cost more each month, housing’s more expensive than ever,” said Ms. Stevens in her announcement video, as images of President Trump and his close adviser, Elon Musk, flash across the screen. “What the heck are they doing?”
Ms. Stevens, who joined Congress in 2019 after flipping a Republican-held seat, represents affluent, vote-rich Oakland County, a onetime Republican stronghold that is now a vital Democratic bastion.
She is the latest Democrat to join an increasingly crowded and competitive primary race to succeed Senator Gary Peters, a Democrat who is retiring. The open-seat contest, in one of the most closely divided states in the country, is likely to be a marquee race in 2026, as Democrats strain to regain control of the Senate.
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Ms. Stevens, a strong fund-raiser who is the chair of the center-left New Democrat Coalition Action Fund, will be seen as a centrist in the primary contest. A former chief of staff for the Obama administration’s auto task force, she is leaning into her support for manufacturing and the auto industry. And, speaking in her distinctive Michigan accent, she opened her announcement video by telling the story of her first car.
“That used Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, it meant more to me than just freedom,” Ms. Stevens said. “It meant I had a piece of Michigan. You know, the Michigan that helped build this country. The Michigan that shaped me. It’s not just what I sound like. It’s who I am.”
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