Peters fends off challenge in Michigan Senate race

Sen. Gary Peters (D) fended off a Republican challenge in Michigan’s Senate race to win a second term. 

NBC and ABC projected Wednesday night that Peters defeated Republican John James, an Army combat veteran and businessman. The Peters seat had long been seen as an outside chance for Republicans to pick up a Senate seat after President Trump won Michigan in 2016.

GOP groups had invested heavily in the Michigan Senate Race, and Republicans had touted James as one of their top recruits of the 2020 cycle, noting that while he lost in the race against Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) in 2018, he outperformed expectations that year.

But Peters benefited from an avalanche of outside spending from Democrats as the party looked to not only keep Peters’s seat in its column but also flip it at the presidential level after Trump’s win four years ago.

Michigan, thank you. It’s an honor to serve you for another six years in the U.S. Senate.

To all who believed in us, gave your time and effort in our fight: thank you for putting your trust in me. I’m so grateful and energized to keep working to move our state forward.

— Gary Peters (@GaryPeters) November 5, 2020