GOP's Peter Meijer joins U.S. Senate race in Michigan

Washington — After months of speculation, former U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer is jumping into the race for Michigan's open U.S. Senate seat, launching a campaign Monday for the Republican Party's nomination.

Meijer, 35, of Grand Rapids Township, is an Iraq War veteran and grandson of the founder of the Meijer supermarket chain. He was elected in 2020 to succeed U.S. Rep. Justin Amash to represent the Grand Rapids area in Congress, but lost reelection in 2022 after facing blowback from Republicans for voting to impeach former President Donald Trump over the Jan. 6, 2021 riots at the U.S. Capitol.

"My wife and I prayed hard about this race and how we can best serve our state and our nation. We considered every aspect of the campaign, and are confident we have the best chance of taking back this seat for the Republicans and fighting hard for a conservative future," Meijer said in a statement.“We are in dark and uncertain times, but we have made it through worse. 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 brings to the race a widely recognized Michigan name, fundraising prowess and the potential to appeal to swing voters, though some GOP strategists have questioned his ability to win a primary election that could be swayed by Trump.

The Michigan Republican Party waded into the fray by tweeting Monday morning: "Peter Meijer voted to impeach President Trump. Remember that." The post was quickly deleted.

More:Michigan GOP blames 'intern' for anti-Peter Meijer tweet

State political parties have traditionally remained neutral in primaries, though the National Republican Senatorial Committee has not.

The group's executive director, Jason Thielman, said Monday that Meijer "isn’t viable in a primary election, and there's worry that if Meijer were nominated, the base would not be enthused in the general election."

Meijer joins an increasingly crowded GOP primary field that includes former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers of Brighton and former Detroit police Chief James Craig, among others. Other high-profile contenders eyeing bids including businessman Sandy Pensler of Grosse Pointe and former GOP presidential candidate Perry Johnson.

Rogers was recruited and encouraged by the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Meijer's launch comes about two months after he created an exploratory committee for a campaign. He previously told The Detroit News that many Michigan conservatives were encouraging him to run.

"I am not surprised at all. Meijer clearly planned to serve in Congress for much longer than he did because he showed a consistent and obvious passion for public service," said John Sellek, a Republican consultant and founder of Harbor Strategic Public Affairs. 

"He lost in part because of active west Michigan voter manipulation by the national Democratic party apparatuses," Sellek added, a reference to a $425,000 ad buy from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee a week before the primary.

"So he has the motivation, and we know he has access to the resources for an attempted come-back."    

Michigan's seat in the Senate is up for grabs because U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, has decided against seeking another six-year term.

On the Democratic side, three-term U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Holly; actor and businessman Hill Harper of Detroit, State Board of Education President Pamela Pugh of Saginaw and former state Rep. Leslie Love of Detroit are seeking their party's nomination, among others.

Michigan Democratic Party Lavora Barnes said Meijer’s entrance to the race makes Michigan Republicans’ primary “even messier.”

"Their intra-party fight is guaranteed to leave them with a nominee who is badly damaged and out of step with working families," Barnes said. "Meijer has a long record of leaving Michigan families behind, from his support of the 2017 tax giveaway to the wealthy and large corporations – including his own family –  to his record of supporting dangerous abortion bans with no exceptions for rape or incest."

Meijer served one term in the U.S. House before losing his bid for reelection in the August 2022 Republican primary. He was among 10 GOP House lawmakers who voted to impeach Trump for “incitement of insurrection" in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Trump had backed Meijer's primary opponent, John Gibbs, who had moved to the area to challenge Meijer and who went on to lose the general election to attorney and Democrat Hillary Scholten by nearly 13 percentage points.

More:Peter Meijer in court filing: Donald Trump should get spot on Michigan ballot

Kyle Kondik, who studies House politics at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, agreed with Sellek that Meijer is a potentially strong general election candidate, however, he's facing another Republican not known as a Trump supporter ― Rogers — along with Craig, who might have the strongest claim to Trump support but is the least proven of the three contenders. 

"I'm really curious as to what Trump does or doesn't do," Kondik said. "He is highly vindictive, but he also doesn't seem as determined this cycle to take a wrecking ball to establishment Republican choices as he did last cycle."

More:How Meijer's Trump impeachment vote sealed his fate in west Michigan

Meijer attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and graduated from Columbia University. He served in Iraq with the U.S. Army, worked as a conflict analyst in Afghanistan and has a background in disaster relief. In his first campaign for Congress, he pitched himself as a next-generation candidate who dedicated his career to serving others, despite coming from money.

"My family taught me the value of hard work, Michigan values, and the importance of service," Meijer said. "With a new son, my wife and I feel a great sense of responsibility to do everything we can to ensure our best times lie ahead, and here to continue for generations.”

In the House, Meijer served on the House Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security panels, as well as the Committee on Science, Space and Technology. He advocated for more civility and less partisanship in Washington.

He has said his most significant policy contributions in Congress included helping to shape conversations around Congress’ emergency and war powers and pushing to repeal outdated authorizations for the use of military force, including an Eisenhower-era one dating to 1957.

More:As he leaves Congress, Peter Meijer laments partisanship but remains open to run again

Meijer also became a prominent voice on international and Afghanistan policy in the leadup to and aftermath of the Biden administration’s withdrawal in August 2021, criticizing the administration for not starting the evacuation earlier for Afghans who aided the American military ahead of the U.S. withdrawing its troops. His team helped many Afghans to flee.

The last time Michigan had a Senate race in 2020, incumbent U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, defeated Republican John James by 1 percentage point.

mburke@detroitnews.com