Buttigieg says he’s ‘looking at’ possible Senate run in battleground state

Pete Buttigieg said he’s contemplating a run for the Senate next year in his adopted home state of Michigan.

“I’ve been looking at it,” the former Department of Transportation secretary and former presidential candidate acknowledged in his latest interview, as he pointed to the emerging race to succeed Sen. Gary Peters. The two-term Democrat announced in January that he won’t seek re-election in 2026.

“I’m going to continue to work on the things that I care about,” Buttigieg elaborated as he appeared Tuesday night on CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

Buttigieg emphasized, “I have not decided what that means professionally, whether that means running for office soon or not. But I will make myself useful.”

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In a sign of just how seriously he is contemplating a Senate campaign in the pivotal Great Lakes battleground state, a source familiar confirmed to Fox News that Buttigieg met last week with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, the longtime leader of the chamber’s Democrats.

The 43-year-old Buttigieg, a former naval intelligence officer who deployed to the war in Afghanistan and who served eight years as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was a long-shot candidate when he launched his 2020 presidential campaign. 

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But his campaign caught fire, and he narrowly edged Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont to win the Iowa caucuses before coming in close second to Sanders in the New Hampshire presidential primary. But Buttigieg, along with the rest of the Democratic field, dropped out of the race and endorsed Joe Biden as the then-former vice president won the South Carolina primary in a landslide, swept the Super Tuesday contests and eventually clinched the nomination before winning the White House.

The millennial Democrat, who served as Biden’s transportation secretary for four years, has maintained popularity within the Democratic Party as one of its younger stars.

Buttigieg in recent months has highlighted that he aims to stay involved. In a radio interview in December near the end of his tenure as transportation secretary, he said, “I will find ways to make myself useful, and maybe that’s running for office, and maybe that’s not. I’ll take the next few weeks and months to work through that.”

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And soon after Peters revealed in January he wouldn’t seek re-election, a source familiar with Buttigieg’s thinking told Fox News Digital, “Pete is exploring all of his options on how he can be helpful and continue to serve… he’s honored to be mentioned for this, and he’s taking a serious look.”

After his 2020 presidential campaign, Buttigieg and his spouse, Chasten, moved from red-state Indiana to neighboring Michigan, and have a home in Traverse City.

Buttigieg isn’t the only Democrat taking a hard look to succeed Peters.

State Sen. Mallory McMorrow is likely to launch a Democratic campaign. McMorrow grabbed national attention in 2022 after delivering a floor speech in the Michigan Senate which was seen as a model for countering GOP attacks.

Among the other Democrats who’ve expressed interest in running are two-term Michigan Attorney General Dana Nesse and Congresswoman Haley Stevens.

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Former Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., announced at the end of January that he was “strongly considering” a second straight Republican run for the Senate in Michigan.

Rogers won the 2024 GOP Senate nomination in Michigan but narrowly lost to Rep. Elissa Slotkin, the Democrats’ nominee, in last November’s election in the race to succeed longtime Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who retired. Slotkin, who vastly outspent Rogers, edged him by roughly 19,000 votes, or a third of a percentage point.

Rogers is a former FBI special agent who later served as chair of the House Intelligence Committee during his tenure in Congress.

While Rogers was the first Republican to publicly make a move toward launching a 2026 Senate campaign in Michigan, GOP sources told Fox News last month that others who may consider running are Rep. John James – who’s in his second term in the House and was the GOP Senate nominee in Michigan in 2018 and 2020 – and longtime Rep. Bill Huizenga.

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The Michigan Senate race is considered a “Toss Up” by top nonpartisan political handicapper the Cook Political Report. 

The Republicans currently control the Senate 53-47, after flipping four seats from blue to red in last November’s elections.

The party in power – clearly the Republicans right now – traditionally faces political headwinds in the midterm elections. Nevertheless, an early read of the 2026 map indicates the GOP may be able to go on offense in some key states.

Along with Michigan, Republicans will also be targeting battleground Georgia, where first-term Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff is considered vulnerable.

And in swing state New Hampshire, longtime Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen has yet to say whether she’ll seek another term when she’s up for re-election next year.

The GOP is also eyeing blue-leaning Minnesota, where Democratic Sen. Tina Smith last month announced she wouldn’t seek re-election in 2026.

But Republicans are also playing defense in the 2026 cycle.

Democrats plan to go on offense in blue-leaning Maine, where moderate GOP Sen. Susan Collins is up for re-election, as well as in battleground North Carolina, where Republican Sen. Thom Tillis is also up in 2026. 

And Democrats are looking at red-leaning Ohio, where Republican Lt. Gov. Jon Husted was appointed in January to succeed Vice President JD Vance in the Senate. Husted will run next year to finish out Vance’s term.

Fox News’ Julia Johnson contributed to this report