Mallory McMorrow, a state senator from Michigan and rising star in the Democratic party, has announced her bid for the US Senate in what is expected to be one of 2026’s most competitive and high-profile contests.
McMorrow, 38, launched her campaign on Wednesday to succeed Michigan’s retiring Democratic senator Gary Peters with a video that showed the Trump administration’s mass layoffs of federal workers, plans to cut Medicaid and Elon Musk’s so-called “department of government efficiency”.
“There are moments that will break you,” McMorrow said. “This is not that moment. This moment will challenge us, test us. And if it all feels like too much? That’s their plan.
“They want to make you feel powerless, but you are not so powerless. We’ve been here before,” she continued, noting her 2018 state senate win over an incumbent Republican.
The video also shows a clip from a fierce, impassioned speech in 2022 in which she denounced a Republican lawmaker who attacked her over her support for LGBTQ+ rights and falsely accused her of wanting to “groom” and “sexualize” young children.
In the speech, which went viral on social media, McMorrow said she was “a straight, white, Christian, married, suburban mom” who wants “every child in this state to feel seen, heard, and supported, not marginalized and targeted because they are not straight, white and Christian”.
Democrats are desperate to hold onto the Michigan seat, a battleground state that voted for Donald Trump in November.
Kristen McDonald Rivet and Haley Stevens, both members of Congress, as well as Michigan attorney general Dana Nessel, are all thought to be considering running for the Democratic ticket.
Pete Buttigieg, the former US transportation secretary, announced last month that he would not be seeking the Michigan senate seat, fueling speculation that he could be looking ahead to a 2028 presidential run.
