Outside the Beltway

Debbie Stabenow Retiring

The Michigan Senator's stepping down at a reasonable age shocked everyone.

James Joyner · Friday, January 6, 2023 · 4 comments

Axios Detroit (“Stabenow’s retirement sets off ‘political earthquake’“):

Sen. Debbie Stabenow announced yesterday that she won’t seek re-election and will retire when her fourth term ends in 2025.

Why it matters: The Democrat’s retirement adds to Michigan’s status as a premier 2024 election battleground state and gives an opportunity for new candidates to emerge from both parties.

• Stabenow, who has been a senator for more than two decades, said in a statement her decision was “inspired by a new generation of leaders.”

What she said: “I think it’s important to know the time and place where you open doors again for others and pass the torch. I feel like this is really the right time for me, it’s the right time for Michigan,” she told the Detroit News.

What we’re watching: U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly), Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Birmingham), Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist and others are already being floated as potential Democratic candidates to replace Stabenow.

• Peter Meijer, Tom Barrett, Mike Cox and Lisa McClain are viewed as viable options for Republicans.

The intrigue: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Mayor Mike Duggan have already shot down a potential run for the position.

POLITICO (“Within hours of Debbie Stabenow announcing her retirement, Dems are scrambling to replace her“):

Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s decision to not run for reelection jolted national Democrats on Thursday, setting off a mad scramble for a newly open battleground seat in 2024.

At least two prominent Democrats — Reps. Elissa Slotkin and Debbie Dingell — are seriously considering a run, according to people familiar with their thinking. But several other House members could also take a look at it, including Rep. Haley Stevens, according to several Michigan Democrats.

The quick maneuvering and rampant speculation around it is owed, in large part, to the sheer number of Democrats who have long waited for a crack at running for higher office, and also to the abruptness of the announcement.

“I’m stunned,” said Dingell, who represents Michigan’s 6th District and is among the state’s highest-profile politicians. “She told me months ago she was running. … I can’t imagine our delegation without her, but today is the day we celebrate her and then we figure it out.”

Stabenow’s announcement on Thursday marks the first major retirement ahead of the 2024 cycle, when Senate Democrats will be on defense in a slate of top swing states. It also tees off an open primary in a presidential swing state, with Republicans joining up-and-coming Democratic talent in eyeing a competitive race suddenly without a three-term incumbent on the ballot.

“We have a great group of possibilities,” Stabenow told POLITICO. “So I’ll be having lots of conversations as you can imagine with folks. I think we have a wonderful generation of leaders on our side, I don’t see the same kind of strong … team on the Republican side.”

At least two of the most prominent Michigan Democrats — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, who now splits his time between Washington, D.C., and his family home in Traverse City, Mich. — quickly announced they were not planning a run for Stabenow’s seat on Thursday.

Whitmer, in a lengthy statement praising Stabenow’s legacy, noted that as governor, she looked “forward to working with her through the end of her term,” a nod to her plans to serve out her full four-year term, after winning reelection by a more than 10-point margin last year.

Buttigieg released a statement of his own, noting he is “fully focused on serving the President in my role as Secretary of Transportation, and not seeking any other job.” Using the present tense, Buttigieg continued, “we are hard at work to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure, grow the economy, and create good-paying jobs.” Buttigieg has turned down chances to run for the House before and has often described himself as someone with an executive skill set.

That the retirement of a 72-year-old after 24 years in the job is a shocker speaks to the gerontocracy that the US Congress has become. She presumably has a nice nest egg, and will get a tremendous pension for the rest of her life. Why continue working until age 80?

I had forgotten that Buttigieg had moved from Indiana to Michigan. I have no idea how Michiganders would view his candidacy but one would think the Senate would be a logical next move. Maybe he’d prefer to succeed Whitmer as governor?

The notion that a Republican will take the seat in 2024 strikes me as extremely unlikely. Unless party bosses do away with primaries as a means of candidate selection, the base will almost surely nominate an unelectable extremist. There’s no way in hell the nominate Peter Meijer, who’s actually a competent legislator with quaint ideas about getting things done in Washington.