There’s one fewer Democratic candidate running for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat.
Michigan State Board of Education President Pamela Pugh is ending her U.S. Senate bid, so she can instead run to replace retiring Congressman Dan Kildee (D-Flint).
“This decision was the best decision for me to go to Washington D.C.,” said Pugh.
Pugh is the first declared Democratic candidate to succeed Kildee, the six-term incumbent Democrat announced he would not seek another term representing mid-Michigan in Washington earlier this month. Kildee cited a recent cancer diagnosis as a reason why he decided to leave office at the end of his current term. After surgery and additional treatment, Rep. Kildee is now cancer-free.
Other Democrats are reportedly considering running for the eighth district seat. There are two declared Republican candidates (Paul Junge and Martin Blank), with others also pondering entering the race.
Long a safe Democratic seat, the eighth district was redrawn before the 2022 election to include more Republican voters. National experts say the eighth district is now considered a “toss-up” going into 2024.
Pugh’s departure from the race to succeed outgoing U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow still leaves a very crowded field in both the Democratic and Republican primaries.
Rep. Elissa Slotkin and actor/entrepreneur Hill Harper are among the Democrats seeking to replace Stabenow.
On the Republican side, former congressmen Mike Rogers and Peter Meijer, along with former Detroit Police Chief James Craig lead a large field seeking the GOP nomination for Michigan U.S. Senate in 2024.
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