By Elyse Apel
The Center Square

A national pro-life advocacy group has announced plans to invest $4.5 million into Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat ahead of the 2026 election season.

The investment from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and Women Speak Out PAC will fund a campaign field effort that hopes to reach 1 million voters by Election Day.

Kelsey Pritchard, political communications director for SBA, spoke with The Center Square in an exclusive interview about why they believe this race is critical.

“The pro-life majority in the Senate is at stake in the midterms,” Pritchard said. “Michigan is a key battleground state where we have the opportunity to flip Sen. Gary Peters’ seat to ultimately retain and grow our majority in the Senate.”

This investment comes after Peters, a Democrat, announced earlier this year that he does not plan to run for a third term in 2026.

Peters was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2014, narrowly winning re-election in 2020.

After contentious elections in both 2020 and 2024, where Michigan solidified its position as a swing state, Peters said he will work with Democrats in 2026 to elect his successor.

“Although I will not be on the ballot next year, I will not just walk away,” Peters said. “I plan to actively campaign to ensure we elect a dynamic Democratic candidate to be the next U.S. Senator from Michigan.”

In 2020, Peters was challenged by Republican John James. Peters won that election by a margin of 1.7% or 90,000 votes.

While still a significant divide, this was an improvement for Republicans from 2014, when Peters won by 13.3% or 414,000 votes.

SBA hopes to flip that seat to Republicans this time around by targeting pro-life voters who do not consistently vote in midterm elections as well as voters they have deemed “persuadable.”

“Last election, our Michigan team reached 764,000 voters to help flip the state for Donald Trump who won Michigan by 1.4%. This time, we’ll be reaching 1 million voters by election day to continue the pro-life momentum,” Pritchard said. “Our field program has a track record of producing a positive net shift in the percentage of votes pro-life candidates secure.”

In 2024, all eight battleground states where SBA had a field operation ended up being won by President Donald Trump. This is its first announced investment for the 2026 election cycle.

“We will continue our winning track record in Michigan this cycle to flip the state’s open senate seat,” Pritchard said.

Currently, both U.S. Senators from Michigan are Democrats. With no incumbent running, Republicans are hopeful to pick up Peters’ seat in 2026.

So far, three Democrats and one Republican have entered the race.

Abdul El-Sayed is a 2018 Democrat gubernatorial candidate who has received the backing of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders. State Sen. Mallory McMorrow and U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens are both Democrats that were elected to their respective seat in 2018.

On the Republican side, only U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers has declared. Rogers has become a pillar of the Michigan Republican party since he was first elected to the U.S. House in 2000.

SBA expressed concern with all the Democrat candidates, though falling short in its announcement of endorsing Rogers. Rogers has not made abortion a key issue in his campaign, stating in 2024 that he will “respect Michiganders’ decision on abortion.”

Both McMorrow and Stevens have called for the U.S. Senate to codify access to abortion into U.S. law.

Pro-abortion advocacy groups like Planned Parenthood Action have not yet announced their 2026 campaign investments or priorities.