Rising star Dem critical of Schumer's leadership launches 2026 bid in key Senate battleground

A Democratic state senator who grabbed national attention the past couple of years is launching a bid for the U.S. Senate in what will likely be a high-profile, expensive and bruising showdown for an open seat her party controls in battleground Michigan.

Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow highlighted that she's an outsider and called for a new generation of leaders in Washington as she announced her Senate candidacy in the 2026 race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters. It's a seat Republicans are aiming to flip from blue to red.

In an announcement video posted on YouTube, McMorrow emphasized that the "same old crap out of Washington" wouldn’t solve the nation's problems.

"We need new leaders. Because the same people in D.C. who got us into this mess are not going to be the ones to get us out of it," she added.

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While the 38-year-old McMorrow didn't mention longtime Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in her announcement, she has previously said she wouldn't support Schumer to continue as the party's leader in the chamber.

Schumer faced intense backlash from within his own party last month for supporting a Republican-crafted government funding bill backed by President Donald Trump but opposed by most congressional Democrats.

McMorrow, in her video announcement, also took aim at Trump and his top donor and White House advisor, billionaire Elon Musk.

"There’s a lot of fear and anger and uncertainty right now about people in power who, frankly, have no business being there," she charged. 

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McMorrow gained national attention in 2022, thanks to a viral speech she gave in the Michigan Senate as she forcefully pushed back against a Republican lawmaker who had accused her of "grooming" children.

And she grabbed more praise from fellow Democrats last summer, as she took aim at the GOP during a speech at the Democratic National Convention, as she held up an oversized copy of "Project 2025," the conservative blueprint that her party targeted.

McMorrow, who represents parts of Detroit and surrounding suburbs in Michigan's upper legislative chamber, is trying to do what few politicians have done in recent decades – move from the state Senate to the U.S. Senate.

Among the few to make that transition were former President Barack Obama and Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa.

But thanks to her high national profile, McMorrow has built a sizable donor network from coast to coast.

McMorrow likely won't have the field for the Democratic Senate nomination to herself. 

Reps. Kristen McDonald Rivet and Haley Stevens, are considering a run, as is Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.

But last month, Pete Buttigieg, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate who later served as Transportation secretary in President Joe Biden's administration, ruled out a run after seriously considering a bid.

In the race for the GOP Senate nomination, former Rep. Mike Rogers announced at the end of January that he was "strongly considering" a second straight Republican run.

Fox News confirmed last month that Rogers would likely announce his campaign in the coming weeks. Rogers hired veteran Republican strategist and 2024 Trump's co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita as a senior advisor.

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Rogers won the 2024 GOP Senate nomination in Michigan but narrowly lost to Rep. Elissa Slotkin, the Democrats' nominee, in last November's election in the race to succeed longtime Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who retired. Slotkin, who vastly outspent Rogers, edged him by roughly 19,000 votes, or a third of a percentage point.

Rogers is a former FBI special agent who later served as chair of the House Intelligence Committee during his tenure in Congress.

Business executive, conservative commentator and 2022 Republican gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon has also said she's seriously mulling another run for governor, or for the Senate, in 2026.

Senate Republicans view the Democratic-held seat in Michigan as a top pick-up prospect in the 2026 midterms, as they work to increase their current 53-47 majority in the chamber.