ICYMI: The low-key Democrat with the unenviable task of defending a 50-50 Senate [POLITICO]

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POLITICO: The low-key Democrat with the unenviable task of defending a 50-50 Senate
By Burgess Everett
February 14, 2022

Key Points:

• Peters is setting a high bar for success this fall. He doesn’t want to just hold the Senate majority…he wants to make Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s job a hell of a lot easier: “It’s a sense of mission for me to get to 52 or more” Senate seats, Peters said.

• Peters’ own resume of racking up wins in Michigan is giving Democrats hope for a fighting chance… His personal political story is one of survival by any means necessary.

• He swept into office in 2008 by knocking off a House GOP incumbent, survived the tea party wave of 2010, beat fellow Democratic incumbent Hansen Clarke in a redistricting-stoked primary in 2012 and was the only new Democratic senator to take office after the 2014 shellacking.

• “I’ve got a lot of respect for the senator. And he worked really hard, I’ve got to credit that. So that paid dividends come Election Day,” said Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) who ran the GOP’s 2020 campaign arm.

• Peters isn’t afraid to take on risks; he opened up during his latest reelection campaign about his and his wife’s decision to pursue an abortion in the 1980s, a rare move for a male politician.

• “He’s really got the right temperament for a job that is such a high level,” said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). “He’s in control of the situation.”

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