“Today is a big day to start. But the start of what’s going to be a long campaign.”
With that, suburban Detroit Congressman Gary Peters informally launched his bid for the United States Senate today in Rochester. A formal campaign kickoff is planned for this fall.
The Bloomfield Township Democrat is hoping to succeed Senator Carl Levin who is retiring from the Senate after six terms in Washington.
Peters says his business background as a financial planner helped prepare him for Washington.
“What I basically did was help families to prepare for their financial future for 22 years, but I also saw the struggles and why we need to make sure the folks in Washington understand those struggles and have policies that help everyday families…achieve the American Dream," Peters told reporters.
Peters is a three term Congressman, former state Senator and former state lottery commissioner. He narrowly lost the 2002 race for Michigan Attorney General.
Michigan state Republican Party chairman Bobby Schostak issued a written statement to Peters’ announcement:
“If we apply the same common sense solutions in Washington that Republicans have applied in Lansing, we can clean up the mess created by Peters and his Democrat colleagues."
Peters plans to kick off a “listening tour” tomorrow that will take him to Flint, Lansing and Grand Rapids.
Peters is not expected to face a lot of opposition for the Democratic nomination.
Peters says he doesn’t care who the Republican nominee will be. There are several Republican politicians mulling a run for the U.S. Senate seat in 2014.
