Minutes after two-term Sen. Gary Peters, D.-Mich., made the surprise announcement Tuesday morning that he would not seek re-election in 2026, the odds on Republicans keeping their present majority, 53-47, in the senate shot up.

Although Peters won two very close races in 2014 and 2020, his exit means that with no incumbent and possibly a hard-fought Democrat primary to succeed him, Republicans have an outstanding chance of electing the first Republican senator from Michigan since 1994.

No sooner had Peters made his announcement than GOP eyes in the Water-Winter Wonderland and Washington, D.C., focused on near-successful 2024 Senate nominee Mike Rogers.

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