Peter Meijer Launches Bid for Michigan Senate Seat – On Monday, Peter Meijer, the former Republican congressman who had previously voted in favor of impeaching Donald Trump, officially launched his campaign for a Michigan Senate seat in 2024. This decision to enter the competitive Senate candidate race followed last week’s report that Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) had informed fellow Republican senators about Meijer’s impending campaign.
“We are in dark and uncertain times, but we have made it through worse,” Meijer said in an announcement Monday. “The challenges are great, but so is our country. If we are to see another great American century, we need leaders who aren’t afraid to be bold, will do the work, and can’t be bought.” In 2022, Meijer lost his West Michigan congressional seat to a candidate backed by Donald Trump.
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This loss came after he was one of the ten House Republicans who voted in favor of impeaching Trump for his involvement in the January 6th insurrection in 2021. Meijer has stated that he has no regrets about his impeachment vote. His decision to vote for impeachment might prove advantageous in appealing to moderate or independent voters within the state.
Furthermore, with his lineage as the grandson of the founder of the Midwestern Meijer grocery dynasty, he possesses the financial capacity to self-fund his campaign and has the support of allies who could establish a super PAC to assist him. Meijer is entering a competitive GOP primary field that already features two significant candidates, former Rep. Mike Rogers and former Detroit Police Chief James Craig, with the possibility of more Republicans entering the race.
The current Democratic incumbent, Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), is retiring. On the Democratic side, Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) and actor Hill Harper are also vying for the party’s nomination for the Senate seat. Meijer, a former Army Reserve sergeant who served in Iraq, made reforming war powers and veterans’ issues his top legislative priorities during his 2020 tenure. He successfully passed four bills into law, including the establishment of a Department of Homeland Security trade and economic security council.
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