US-SEN: Michigan has been a pipeline for women in power. Will that continue in 2026?
Michigan is a perennial presidential battleground state: President Donald Trump won it in 2016, former Democratic President Joe Biden put the state back in the Democratic column in 2020 and Trump flipped it back in 2024. But over the last 30 years, the state has consistently elected Democrats to the Senate — the last time the state sent a Republican senator to Washington was 1994.
The state has long been a pipeline for women Democratic leaders, from former Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Rep. Debbie Dingell to Slotkin; Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a potential 2028 presidential candidate; Attorney General Dana Nessel; Rep. Hillary Scholten; and prominent progressive Rep. Rashida Tlaib. Rep. Lisa McClain, the Republican Conference chair in the House, also hails from Michigan.
If either Stevens or McMorrow wins the primary and the general, Michigan would add to the number of states represented in the Senate by two women simultaneously. There are currently four such states — Minnesota, New Hampshire, Nevada and Washington.
Republicans currently control the Senate by a three-seat majority, 53 to 47, and Senators serve six-year terms, meaning a third of the Senate is up every election cycle. For Democrats to win back the chamber in 2026, they’d need to hold competitive seats in states like Georgia and Michigan while flipping four GOP-held seats in Maine, North Carolina and even more Republican-leaning states like Ohio, Iowa, Nebraska and Texas.
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