Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) announced on April 22, 2025, that she will run for the U.S. Senate seat in Michigan in 2026 rather than another term in the U.S. House of Representatives. 

The seat is open since incumbent Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) announced he would not seek re-election. As of April 23, 2025, independent race forecasters The Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball have rated the general election for the seat as Toss-up. Inside Elections rated it Battleground Democratic.

In a video announcing her campaign, Stevens said, “Growing up in Michigan meant being surrounded by innovation, ingenuity, and pride in hard work. And from our farmers to our nurses to our manufacturers, Michigan has the best workers in the world. I always knew I wanted to spend my life fighting for Michigan.”

In 2018, Stevens ran for her first term in the House in Michigan’s 11th Congressional District after then-Rep. David Trott (R-Mich.) announced he would not seek re-election. Stevens defeated Lena Epstein (R) 52% to 45% in the general election. As a result, Michigan’s 11th Congressional District was one of 46 districts to change party hands that year. 

In her three subsequent re-election bids, Stevens won by two percentage points in 2020, 22 percentage points in 2022, and 18 percentage points in 2024. According to Roll Call’s Niels Lesniewski and Mary Ellen McIntire, “When the state’s congressional map was redrawn ahead of the 2022 elections, the seat became safer for Democrats.”

As of April 23, 2025, The Cook Political Report and Inside Elections have rated the 2026 general election for Michigan’s 11th congressional District as Solid Democratic. Sabato’s Crystal Ball rated it as Safe Democratic.

As of April 23, 2025, 12 members of the U.S. Congress—five senators and seven representatives—have announced they will not seek re-election to their current seats in 2026.

Of the seven representatives—Two democrats and five Republicans—not seeking re-election:

• Three—two Democrats and one Republican—are running for the U.S. Senate.
• Four—all Republicans—are running for governor.

Compared to the last four election cycles, there were eight retirement announcements at this point in 2024, 11 in 2022, five in 2020, and seven in 2018.

Between January 2011 and April 2025, Ballotpedia followed 359 announcements from Senate and House members who announced they would not seek re-election. January had seen the highest number of announcements of any month at 69. The fewest announcements—12—happened in June.