Skip to content

Michigan’s Fred Upton Not Running for Senate

16-term Republican will seek re-election to 6th District

Michigan Rep. Fred Upton will seek re-election instead of running for Senate. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
Michigan Rep. Fred Upton will seek re-election instead of running for Senate. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Michigan Rep. Fred Upton announced Friday he will run for re-election instead of trying to challenge Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow in 2018.

“I will not be a candidate for the U.S. Senate. There was a path, but today we are choosing not to follow it,” the Republican lawmaker said in a statement. The former chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee had been publicly weighing a Senate bid for much of this year. 

“We are full speed ahead for re-election in 2018,” he added.

Upton, currently the chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy, said there are issues in Congress he looks forward to continuing to work on, including the 21st Century Cures Act and the tax overhaul. He said he’s excited about “working with the Problem Solvers Caucus to do it all in a bipartisan way. As it should be done.”

Upton’s term as chairman ended in 2016, but he still sought re-election last fall, winning by 22 points. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is targeting the 6th District — which President Donald Trump won by 8 points — in 2018.

Democrats are excited about Matt Longjohn, the former YMCA national health director, who ended the third quarter with $172,000. George Franklin, the former vice president of government relations for Kellogg, is also running. Upton has $1.1 million in the bank.

Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the 6th District race Likely Republican

Republicans have other candidates to take on Stabenow. There’s excitement in the GOP about Detroit businessman and Iraq War veteran John James, who has $216,000 in the bank. Stabenow has $6.9 million. The Senate race is rated Solid Democratic

Recent Stories

Capitol Lens | O’s face

Mayorkas impeachment headed to Senate for April 11 trial

Muslim American appeals court nominee loses Democratic support

At the Races: Lieberman lookback

Court says South Carolina can use current congressional map

Joseph Lieberman: A Capitol life in photos