As the Michigan Secretary of State Office began its count of absentee and in-person ballots Tuesday evening to decide who will be the next President of the United States, there was arguably as much interest in who will win the contest for the Michigan U.S. Senate seat as for the Oval Office.
In a race, many pundits expect to be among the harrowing of this year’s election cycle Democratic incumbent Sen. Gary Peters is fighting to hold on to his seat from a strong challenge from Republican John James, a Detroit businessman.
As of late Tuesday, Detroit city officials announced 53 percent of the city’s voters cast ballots in the Nov. 3 election, topping the mark set in 2008 when Barack Obama was elected president.
“It is probably the highest turnout that we’ve had in more than 20 to 30 years in the city of Detroit,” election consultant Daniel Baxter told reporters on Tuesday night.
Turnout was 53 percent in the city in 2008, but this year’s mark is expected to be slightly higher.
With just under 30 percent of the votes tallied before going to press James was defeating the incumbent by 56%-42%.
Ironically, although James is Black and from Detroit, the Motor City is considered Peters’ base. When James ran unsuccessfully against Michigan senior Sen. Debbie Stabenow in 2018, he barely garnered five percent of the vote in a city comprised of more than 80 percent African Americans.
He appears to be doing much better this time around. For now.
Peters, a former congressman from Pontiac is serving in his first term. He has been a steady, if somewhat low-key presence in Washington who has established a reputation for bipartisanship, excellent constituent service, bringing home the bacon for Michigan and a reliable friend and advocate for the African American community.
During the current session Sen. Peters with the support of the NAACP, introduced the bipartisan National Criminal Justice Commission Act to establish the first top-to-bottom review of our justice system in over 50 years and help set the agenda on critical reforms for our criminal justice system. He cosponsored national reforms like an outright ban on the use of chokeholds, accountability in the event of the use of deadly force by law enforcement, and the requirement for fair and impartial independent investigations. Moreover, he supports measures to require federal law enforcement to clearly identify themselves and promotes the use of evidence-based practices to inform crime reduction programs.
He received a 97 percent positive legislative rating from the national NAACP during the 2017-2019 legislative session.
He is being challenged by James, a far-right Black conservative who is heavily financed by the wealthy right-wing DeVos family from Western Michigan. He is best and known for his ferocious opposition to Obamacare, the renewal of the John Lewis Voting Rights Renewal Act (VRRA), extreme opposition to abortion rights, and support from Ted Nugent and even some members of the notorious Michigan militia.
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