Ex-Michigan House Speaker Joe Tate jumps into US Senate race

• Former Michigan House Speaker Joe Tate is now the fourth Democrat to enter the race to replace retiring US Sen. Gary Peters 
• Tate, who represents Detroit, served one term as the Michigan House’s first Black speaker
• Earlier this year Peters announced he would retire at the end of his term in 2026

Former Michigan House Speaker Joe Tate has joined the crowded Democratic US Senate primary to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters.

In an announcement video posted to his website, the 44-year-old Tate said he was running for the US Senate to “lay a foundation for the next generation of Michiganders.”

“Instead of creating opportunity for all, Donald Trump and the Republicans are cutting taxes for the wealthy and they’re betraying our senior citizens, our children and my fellow veterans to do it,” he said.

The Detroit Democrat officially announced his campaign Sunday — Mother’s Day — in an interview with The Associated Press, saying he was running to continue to keep that promise that my grandparents came up to Michigan for.”

Tate led the Michigan House in 2023 and 2024 as Democrats held trifecta control of state government for the first time in 40 years. 

His tenure as speaker began with a series of legislative achievements, including passage of gun reforms, clean energy laws, repeal of the state’s Right-to-Work law and new anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ Michiganders, among other things. 

But his term was also marked by complaints from some within his party that Democrats were overcautious and too concerned with maintaining a majority they ultimately lost in 2024 anyway.

Tate’s tenure abruptly ended in December 2024 when state House Republicans walked out of the chamber and one Democratic legislator, Rep. Karen Whitsett of Detroit, refused to attend the lame-duck session, denying her fellow Democrats the quorum needed to convene and pass legislation. 

That controversy followed into the next legislative session when it was revealed nine bills that passed the chamber under Tate’s watch were never presented to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to be signed into law. 

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The ostensible error — Tate has never directly addressed what happened —left the legislation in the hands of new Speaker Matt Hall, a Richland Township Republican who has not sent Whitmer the bills, prompting an ongoing lawsuit by the Democrat-controlled Senate, where the bills originated.

Returning to the House this year as a rank-and-file member, Tate has voted along with Republicans on some key legislation, including a road funding package that would gut economic development programs prioritized by Whitmer.

Tate enters the race with a pedigree that seems primed for politics: He attended Michigan State University on a football scholarship, played professionally for NFL teams and later enlisted in the marines, serving two tours of duty in Afghanistan before returning to Michigan for graduate school at the University of Michigan. 

He has served in the House since 2019 and was the body’s first Black speaker.

Tate’s campaign rollout had been weeks in the making. An affiliated dark money nonprofit called Michigan Empowerment Fund had promoted town hall meetings featuring Tate and he had made calls soliciting donations.

Tate is joining a crowded Democratic primary field that includes US Rep. Haley Stevens, who represents Oakland County, former Wayne County Health Director Abdul El-Sayed and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow.

Republicans are hoping to flip the seat. But so far, former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers is the only candidate to announce for the GOP primary. He lost to Democrat Elissa Slotkin in Michigan’s 2024 U.S. Senate race by 19,006 votes.