Who’s running for U.S. Senate in Michigan: Peter Meijer makes it official

• Former U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer announces bid for U.S. Senate in Michigan
• Meijer joins a GOP field that includes former Congressman Mike Rogers, former Detroit Police Chief James Craig, State Board of Education member Nikki Snyder, Michael Hoover, Sherry O'Donnell, Alexandira Taylor and J.D. Wilson
• Democratic field features U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, actor Hill Harper, Nasser Beydoun, Zack Burns, Leslie Love

LANSING — Former U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer, who lost his bid for a second term in Congress after voting to impeach former President Donald Trump, announced Monday he is formally entering the race for U.S. Senate.

Meijer, 35, of Grand Rapids had earlier formed an exploratory committee for the Republican nomination to succeed retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing.

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He is a member of the Meijer family that owns the superstore chain and lost his lost the 2022 GOP primary to Trump-endorsed John Gibbs, who later lost to Rep. Hillary Scholten, a Democrat.

“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.”

Meijer is a veteran and graduate of West Point who conducted intelligence operations in Iraq.

Meijer joins a crowded field seeking to replace Stabenow, a longtime force in Michigan politics who in January announced she will retire rather than seek re-election. 

To date, six Democrats and eight Republicans have filed paperwork to run for the U.S. Senate seat in the 2024 election. Candidates can still join — or leave — the race by the spring filing deadline. But here's who's in so far:

Democrats

Nasser Beydoun: The Dearborn businessman is a restaurant owner and former chair of the American Arab Chamber of Congress. Beydoun describes himself as a political moderate and civil rights advocate. He is the son of a Lebanese immigrant who found his footing in Michigan as a UAW member, according to Beydoun's campaign. 

Zack Burns: An attorney from Ann Arbor, Burns entered the race in April with a promise to focus on affordable housing, health care, education and training. He holds degrees from the University of Oxford and The University of California, Irvine, according to his campaign. 

Hill Harper: An actor known for his roles on “The Good Doctor” and “CSI: NY,” Harper is also an attorney, single father, author and coffee shop owner. The son of two doctors, Harper was born in Iowa and moved to Detroit in 2016. He is a graduate of Harvard University. A cancer survivor, Harper in 2012 was appointed to a cancer panel by then-President Barack Obama.

Leslie Love: A former state lawmaker from Detroit, Love served in the Michigan House from 2015 to 2020, where she helped end so-called "driver responsibility fees" that critics had called a double penalty. After Love was forced from the Legislature by term limits, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2021 appointed her to the Natural Resources Commission in 2021, making her the first African American woman to serve on the panel. 

Elissa Slotkin: The current U.S. representative for Michigan's 7th District, Slotkin has served in Congress since 2019 and currently lives in Lansing. She previously worked as a Department of Defense official and analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency. Born in New York but raised in Oakland County, Slotkin has degrees from Cornell and Columbia universities. 

Republicans

James Craig: The former Detroit police chief, Craig was a front-runner for the GOP nomination for governor last year but failed to make the ballot after the state determined he was among five candidates who had submitted fraudulent signatures on nominating petitions. Craig retired from the Detroit Police Department in 2021 and is running as a law-and-order Republican.

Michael Hoover: A businessman who previously worked at Dow Chemical, Hoover lives in Laingsburg in Shiawassee County and is a first-time candidate for political office. His focus is on strong families, fiscal responsibility, educational freedom, middle-class prosperity and government accountability, according to his campaign. 

Sherry O'Donnell: A physician, pastor and author from Stevensville, in Berrien County, O'Donnell champions "medical freedom" and opposes a "government takeover of healthcare," among other things, according to her website. She has never held elected office but ran for Congress last year, losing to incumbent U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg in a 5th District GOP primary. 

Mike Rogers: The Livingston County Republican represented Michigan's 8th Congressional District in the U.S. House through 2014. In announcing his campaign, Rogers said he thought he had "put politics behind me" but was inspired to run for U.S. Senate because "something is broken."  He recently moved back to Michigan from Florida, is a former FBI special agent and chaired the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Nikki Snyder: A registered nurse from Dexter, Snyder has served on the Michigan State Board of Education since 2016, when she was the second-highest vote getter in the general election. Snyder describes herself as a "freedom-loving patriot" and wants a Parent's Bill of Rights to ensure they have a strong role in their children's education. 

Alexandria Taylor: A former Democrat from Romulus, Taylor is an attorney who last year worked on a failed Republican lawsuit that sought to invalidate all mail-in ballots from Detroit. She holds degrees from Michigan State, Eastern Michigan and Detroit Mercy universities, according to her campaign, which says she is focused on "family, faith and freedom."

J.D. Wilson: A political newcomer, Wilson is a businessman from the Houghton Lake area in Roscommon County who describes himself as a "constitutional conservative." On his campaign website, Wilson says that in the U.S. Senate he would work to cut taxes, put the federal government on “a diet" and fight inflation, which he calls a "war on middle class families."

Who's NOT running anymore?

Pamela Pugh: The Democratic president of the State Board of Education was running for U.S. Senate but announced on Nov. 27 she will instead run for the U.S. House in the 8th Congressional District seat held by Rep. Dan Kildee, who is not seeking re-election.