Former GOP Rep Takes Major Step Toward Running For Senate In 2024

Former Republican Rep. Peter Meijer of Michigan launched an exploratory committee to run for Senate in 2024, the Daily Caller News Foundation confirmed Thursday.

Meijer will be able to receive funds for a potential campaign as he continues to consider an official bid to replace outgoing Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the DCNF confirmed with the former congressman. If Meijer runs, he will join a growing GOP primary field and could face Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who is the current frontrunner for her party’s nomination.

“I am honored by the many Michigan conservatives who are encouraging me to run for Michigan’s open Senate seat. Winning in 2024 is the only way we can stop Biden’s ruinous economic policies and mass weaponization of government,” Meijer told the DCNF. “The unserious old guard establishment that left us in this mess can’t be trusted to secure the border, restore our economic might to beat the CCP, or repair America’s image abroad after Biden betrayed our Afghan allies. It will take someone who can’t be bought and is willing to be bold, and I am considering running for Senate to do my part to get us out of this mess.”

Meijer, who previously served in the U.S. Army Reserve, first won his seat in Congress in 2020, beating the Democratic opponent by 6 points, according to Ballotpedia. In 2022, Mejier narrowly lost the Republican nomination to John Gibbs, who went on to lose to current Rep. Hillary Scholten.

Former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers is reportedly planning on running for the GOP nomination, and will likely make a campaign announcement as early as next week, The Detroit News reported Tuesday. A source familiar with the discussions told the DCNF that the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) “encouraged” Rogers to run for the seat.

“It’s a huge win for Republicans, who have been trying and failing to recruit Rogers for a decade,” the source said.

An early August Emerson College survey indicates Slotkin would beat several Republican challengers, including Meijer and Rogers by 6 points and 7 points, respectively. The same survey suggests Rogers is the frontrunner for the GOP nomination among a crowded field with 12% support.

Rogers previously served in the military, as a special agent for the FBI and as a state senator before securing his House seat in 2000, according to Ballotpedia. The former congressman served in the House until 2014 when he chose not to seek reelection, and was the chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence.