Former US Rep. Justin Amash exploring potential bid for Michigan's open US Senate seat

Justin Amash, a former U.S. representative from Michigan, said on social media Thursday he is launching an exploratory committee to run for the state's open seat in the U.S. Senate this November.

Amash, who represented west Michigan in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2011-21, left the Republican Party in 2019, identifying as an independent and later, Libertarian. It's unclear under which banner he would run in a possible Senate campaign, though he alluded to possibly joining the Republican primary field.

"I’ve been humbled in recent weeks by the many people who have urged me to run for Senate in Michigan and to do so by joining the Republican primary. ... Today I’m launching the Justin Amash for Senate Exploratory Committee as I consider entering the race," Amash posted on X, formerly called Twitter.

"We need a principled, consistent constitutional conservative in the Senate — someone with a record of taking on the bipartisan oligarchy, defending sound money and free speech, fighting the surveillance state and military-industrial complex, and protecting all our rights. The stakes are high: freedom, social cooperation, and human progress itself."

Amash couldn't be immediately reached for comment. Notably, while serving Amash bucked the trend among most congressional conservatives when he voted to impeach former President Donald Trump in 2019, over allegations Trump abused his office by asking the Ukrainian government to investigate a political rival, now-President Joe Biden.

Unlike actual campaign committees, exploratory committees don't need to register with the Federal Elections Commission, so it remains unclear if Amash is entering the race as a Republican or as a third-party candidate. Should he join the Republican primary, he would enter a crowded field that already has a pair of former Republican representatives.

Former U.S. Reps. Mike Rogers and Peter Meijer, who succeeded Amash in Congress, are seeking the Republican nomination for the open U.S. Senate seat. So is former Detroit Police Chief James Craig, who unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for Michigan governor in 2022, and businessman Sandy Pensler, among others.

Amash's criticism of Trump would create a compelling dynamic in the Senate race should he clinch the Republican nomination, given that Trump is considered the front-runner for the GOP's presidential nomination, and would be at the top of the party's ticket once again if he ends up beating out his main contenders: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.

But others in Michigan's Republican primary would also have to grapple with another Trump nomination — Meijer voted to impeach Trump during the former president's second impeachment proceedings, which centered around the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Meijer served only a single term in Congress, losing a Republican primary to Trump-backed John Gibbs in August 2022. Since launching his Senate bid, Meijer has said he doesn't believe Trump engaged in insurrection, a contrast to his impeachment vote. Meijer, in a November interview with the Free Press, said his impeachment vote was a political distinction, versus a legal one.

Rogers, who represented Michigan in Congress from 2001 to 2015, endorsed Trump for president in January. But he had shown a willingness to criticize Trump in the past, including writing a January 2021 op-ed in the Washington Post saying Trump and others needed to accept the results of the 2020 election, although Trump continues to make unfounded claims about the 2020 election on the campaign trail.

Michigan's U.S. Senate seat is up for grabs this fall, after Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, announced she would not seek another term. Stabenow has held the seat since 2001.

On the Democratic side, U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Lansing, is considered the front-runner for the party's nomination. But she faces challenges from actor Hill Harper, Dearborn businessman Nasser Beydoun, and Ann Arbor lawyer Zack Burns. No Republican has won a U.S. Senate seat in Michigan since Spencer Abraham in 1994, and he was defeated six years later by Stabenow.

Washington correspondent Todd Spangler contributed to this report with prior reporting. Contact Arpan Lobo: alobo@freepress.com. Follow him on X (Twitter) @arpanlobo.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Justin Amash, ex-Rep. who voted to impeach Trump, explores Senate run