U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow recently announced she will not seek re-election when her term ends in two years.
One of the early potential candidates mulling a decision to run for the seat is Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist. He spoke about what this soon-to-be open seat could mean during an interview session recently at the Detroit Policy Conference.
“I didn’t expect the senator to announce that she wasn’t going to seek reelection,” Gilchrist said. “So, this is something certainly that my wife and I are thinking about.”
Stabenow’s announcement came as a surprise to many political insiders and elected officials. So, what does her retirement mean for the greater Detroit and constituents who see an opportunity for Michigan to be served by Black representation in Congress?
This discussion was had recently with former State Rep. Sherry Gay-Dagnogo and former State Sen. Adam Hollier during a Michigan Chronicle online segment. Both previously ran campaigns for the re-drawn 13th Congressional district last year.
“I applaud the senator and her leadership,” said Gay-Dagnogo. “It was quite surprising. She spoke about making sure she opens up the pathway for youth,” during an event in Lansing before she made her official announcement.
Hollier says Stabenow’s commitment to Michigan in the U.S. Senate will be missed. He recounts working with her as she chaired the agriculture committee as they worked together to provide SNAP benefits to constituents during his tenure in the state’s legislature.
“She was one of the very early members talking about the removal of the Lewis Cass statue from the Capitol,” said Hollier. “She’s always been an advocate and a believer in making a way for other people to move up.”
Both former elected officials are thankful Stabenow’s announcement came early, therefore creating an open field of potential candidates, instead of waiting late and causing “some degree of chaos.”
Redrawn congressional districts across the state have been a contested issue for voters and elected officials in the last two years. It was ever more evident particularly for Democrats who argued the likelihood of having no Black representation in Congress following the retirement last year of U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence.
The case was true for the Democratic party following the 13th Congressional district race in 2022 which saw several Black candidates run unsuccessful campaigns, including Hollier and Gay-Dagnogo, falling short to former state legislator Shri Thanedar. He becomes the first Indian American to represent Michigan in Congress.
“Certainly not having African American representation on the Democratic side is something that is challenging,” said Gay-Dagnogo.
Having a united coalition to support a Black candidate to send to Congress was on the mind of Wayne County Executive Warren Evans when he formed a committee to select a “consensus” candidate in Adam Hollier last year for the 13TH Congressional district.
Last year’s race certainly split the Black folk and Hollier believes there should be lessons learned moving forward. “Our goal should be to elect a Black senator from the state of Michigan if we can do so,” he said. “The opportunity to do that is to rally around the strongest candidate that we can get.”
“It is not missed on me that true consensus(ship) was not really a part of that process,” said Gay-Dagnogo. “Based on polling, I was in the best position if all forces were aligned.” She says there was a male dominated table which tried to force a consensus when “voters saw otherwise.”
Gay-Dagnogo believes in order to have true Black representation in Congress, the party needs to have real conversations on what everyone brings to the table.
There will be a lot of money thrown into this race, and in the meantime, both Hollier and Gay-Dagnogo have leaned their support behind Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist and have no interest in jumping into this race.
“It unlikely that that is a good fit for me right now,” said Hollier. “I’m really happy in my role in the Veteran Affairs agency. Garlin is by far the most qualified and most capable candidate at this point.”
About Post Author
