Gary Charles Peters (born December 1, 1958) is an American politician, lawyer, and former Navy officer who has been the senior U.S. senator from Michigan since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the U.S. representative for Michigan’s 14th congressional district from 2009 to 2015. This district included parts of Detroit, Grosse Pointes, Hamtramck, Southfield, and Pontiac. Before 2013, the district was known as Michigan’s 9th congressional district.

Before becoming a member of Congress, Peters served in the U.S. Navy Reserve, worked for 22 years as an investment advisor, and briefly taught at a university. He was elected to the Rochester Hills City Council in 1991 and represented Michigan’s 14th district in the state Senate from 1995 to 2002. In 2002, he ran for Michigan attorney general as the Democratic nominee but lost to Republican Mike Cox. He later became the commissioner of the Michigan Lottery under Governor Jennifer Granholm, a role he held from 2003 to 2008, when he resigned to run for Congress.

In 2014, Peters was elected to the U.S. Senate, becoming the only non-incumbent Democrat to win a Senate election that year. He was reelected in 2020, defeating Republican candidate John E. James in a close election.

Peters led the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee during the 2022 and 2024 election cycles. He is the ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in the 119th Congress. On January 28, 2025, he announced he will not run for reelection in 2026.

Early life and education

Gary Charles Peters was born on December 1, 1958, in Pontiac, Michigan. His father, Herbert Garrett Peters, was a public school teacher who worked in the U.S. Army during World War II. His mother, Madeleine Vignier, met his father in France during the war. She was a nurse's aide and helped organize a union at her workplace. Peters' family has lived in Michigan since the 1840s. He grew up in Oakland County and graduated from Rochester High School.

After high school, Peters went to Alma College, where he graduated with high honors in 1980 with a bachelor of arts in political science. He was also inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, an honor society for academic excellence. Later, he earned a master of business administration from the University of Detroit Mercy in 1984. Peters also has a law degree and a master's degree in political science from Wayne State University, as well as a master's degree in philosophy from Michigan State University.

Military career

Peters joined the United States Navy Reserve in 1993 when he was 34 years old. He served for more than 10 years at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, including time with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 26. During his Navy service, Peters earned the Seabee combat warfare specialist badge and worked as an assistant supply officer.

Peters's reserve duty included time in the Persian Gulf supporting Operation Southern Watch. He served overseas again during times of increased military activity after the September 11 attacks. Peters reached the rank of lieutenant commander before leaving the Reserve in 2008. His awards include the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal and the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal. In 2018, he received a diploma from the College of Naval Command and Staff, which is part of the U.S. Naval War College.

Business and academic career

Peters worked for 22 years as a financial advisor. He was an assistant vice president at Merrill Lynch from 1980 to 1989. After that, he became a vice president at Paine Webber.

From 2007 to 2008, Peters held the third Griffin Endowed Chair in American Government at Central Michigan University. This was a part-time job where he taught one class each semester. He also created student activities, such as two policy forums, and developed a journal about Michigan politics and policy. He earned $65,000 each year for this role. Peters announced he wanted to run for Congress two months after starting this job. Some students and faculty members were concerned that he might not be fair in the classroom while running for office. They also believed the university job was helping pay for his campaign.

Peters has also taught finance at Wayne State University. He taught courses on strategic management and business policy at Oakland University.

Peters worked as a senior policy and financial analyst for the Michigan Department of Treasury. He also sat on arbitration panels for the New York Stock Exchange and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

Michigan Senate (1995–2002)

Before working in the Michigan Senate, Peters was a member of the Rochester Hills City Council from 1991 to 1993.

In 1990, Peters tried to run for office but was not successful. In November 1994, he was elected to the Michigan Senate to represent the Oakland County-based 14th district. This district is one of the most diverse in the state, including many racial, ethnic, and religious groups. It covers parts of southeastern Oakland County, such as the cities of Pontiac, Bloomfield Hills, Southfield, and Oak Park. Peters was reelected in 1998 and served until 2002. He left his position because of state rules that limit how long someone can serve in the Senate. Gilda Jacobs took over Peters' role after he stepped down.

Peters was selected by his fellow Democrats to lead his party's group in the Senate. He also worked on the Michigan Law Revision Commission and the Michigan Sentencing Commission. A bill he helped create was passed by both the Michigan State House of Representatives and the Senate. This law banned the drilling of new wells in the Great Lakes' waters, except during a state energy emergency. The law became official without needing the governor's approval.

Peters held the position of vice chairman for several Senate committees, including Finance, Education, Judiciary, and Economic Development. He was also a member of the Natural Resources Committee and the Mental Health and Human Services Committee.

Statewide elections

In 2002, Peters ran for governor and later for attorney general. As the Democratic candidate for attorney general, he lost the 2002 election to the Republican candidate, Mike Cox, by about 5,200 votes, which was a 0.17% difference. Peters did not challenge the election results, even though some problems were reported. For example, one voting area in Dearborn recorded Peters with 96 votes, but he actually received 396 votes. This was the closest race in Michigan since the 1950 gubernatorial election. In 2003, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm named Peters as the Michigan Lottery commissioner.

U.S. House of Representatives (2009–2015)

On August 7, 2007, Peters ended months of uncertainty by officially stating he would run against Joe Knollenberg, a Republican congressman who had served for eight terms, in the 9th district. This area included nearly all of Oakland County. Peters left his job as state lottery commissioner to focus fully on his campaign.

Knollenberg faced challenges because the district had become more supportive of Democrats, a shift from its past as a strong area for conservative voters. In previous elections, his opponents had not performed as well as the overall Democratic group in the district. However, in 2006, Nancy Skinner, a former radio host who spent little money on her campaign, came very close to defeating him—the nearest a Republican had come to losing the district in over 50 years. This result led the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to focus on defeating Knollenberg.

In the 2002 state attorney general race, Peters performed as well as or better than the average Democratic voter in 72% of the 9th district’s areas. In his 1998 state Senate campaign, he did the same in 99% of the areas.

Peters won the November 4 election with 33,524 votes, earning 52% of the total votes compared to Knollenberg’s 43%. Barack Obama won Oakland County by a 15-point margin, and about two-thirds of Oakland County was part of the 9th district. Peters was the fourth person and first Democrat to represent the district since it was created in 1933. The district had different numbers over time: 17th (1933–1953), 18th (1953–1973), 19th (1973–1983), 18th (1983–1993), and 11th (1993–2003), before becoming the 9th district in 2003.

In November 2010, Peters won against several opponents, including Republican Andrew “Rocky” Raczkowski, Libertarian Adam Goodman, Independent Bob Gray, Independent Matthew Kuofie, and Green Douglas Campbell.

Because of a population decline in Michigan, as shown by the 2010 census, the state lost one congressional district. This change caused parts of Peters’s 9th district, including his home in Bloomfield Hills, to be combined with the 12th district, represented by Democrat Sander Levin. The new district kept the number “9th” but was mostly in Levin’s area.

In September 2011, Peters decided to run in the newly redrawn 14th district. This area had previously been the 13th district, led by freshman Democrat Hansen Clarke. The new 14th district is centered in Detroit but includes parts of Peters’s old State Senate district and portions of his former congressional district. Peters had previously represented most of the Oakland County section of this area. The district could not stay entirely within Wayne County due to Detroit’s shrinking population.

In the August 2012 Democratic primary, Peters defeated Clarke, who had chosen to run in the reconfigured 14th district even though his home was in the reconfigured 13th district (the old 14th). He also beat Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence. The 14th district was mostly Democratic, with 58% Black voters. Peters was strongly favored in the general election and won 82% of the vote against Republican John Hauler. He became the first white congressman to represent a large part of Detroit since 1993.

Peters was sworn into office in January 2009. During his time in Congress, he supported the Recovery Act (also called the stimulus), the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the American Clean Energy and Security Act (which proposed a national emissions trading plan but was not passed), the Paycheck Fairness Act (not passed), the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and the DREAM Act (which would have given certain immigrants conditional permanent residency).

Peters worked with the Obama administration to help Chrysler get debt forgiveness. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank said Peters was “the single most effective person” in preventing Detroit from going bankrupt. In Congress, Peters opposed a plan to use funds from the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program for disaster relief.

In 2010, the Michigan Messenger reported that Peters criticized his own party’s leadership. He and three other Democratic lawmakers formed the Spending Cuts and Deficit Reduction Working Group and proposed bills to reduce spending. Peters said, “We have been growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of action and talking about specifics and putting those on the table. We’ve been frustrated with both Democratic leadership and Republicans.”

Peters supported the Occupy Wall Street movement, speaking at Occupy Detroit in November 2011. He told reporters, “It’s speculation on Wall Street that we’re still paying the price for here, particularly in Detroit, that almost brought the auto industry to a collapse because of what we saw on Wall Street. So we put in restrictions, or put in regulations necessary to rein that in, and right now in Washington I’m facing a Republican majority that wants to undo that.”

In 2011, Peters was one of 118 House Democrats who signed a letter to President Obama urging support for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), an organization that provides health services to women, children, and families in over 150 countries. In 2014, he opposed a Michigan law that banned insurers from offering abortion coverage as a standard feature in health plans.

In 2013, Peters was named senior whip for the Democratic caucus.

U.S. Senate (2015–present)

In 2014, Peters ran for the Senate seat that became available after Senator Carl Levin retired. Senator Carl Levin and Senator Debbie Stabenow supported Peters, and his decision to run made it less likely for other Democrats to challenge him.

The Senate Majority PAC was Peters's largest independent supporter. This group spent nearly $3.2 million on advertisements that criticized the Republican candidate, Terri Lynn Land. In July 2014, Senator Elizabeth Warren supported Peters at a campaign event that raised money for his campaign.

At first, the race was seen as close. However, mistakes made by Land's campaign and her unwillingness to appear in public helped Peters gain an advantage. Polls showed Peters had strong support toward the end of the campaign.

In the November 2020 general election, Peters faced Republican candidate John James. James had previously tried to win the Senate seat in 2018 but lost to Senator Debbie Stabenow. Less than a month before the election, Peters became the first sitting U.S. senator to publicly share a personal experience about abortion. He was reelected with a smaller margin (1.7%) than many had expected.

In January 2021, Peters was present during the certification of the 2021 U.S. Electoral College vote count when supporters of former President Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol. Peters and others were evacuated from the Senate floor after rioters broke into the building. From a safe location, Peters tweeted that the attacks were "dangerous, unacceptable, and an attack on our democracy—and must stop." He blamed former President Trump, calling him "a clear and present danger," and called for his removal from office through the 25th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution or impeachment. Peters also asked for investigations into the failures in security and intelligence that led to the Capitol breach and the deaths of five people. He led the investigation as chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Committees and Subcommittees:
• Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittees on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies; Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies; Department of Homeland Security; Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies; Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
• Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittees on Airland; Emerging Threats and Capabilities (Chair)
• Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittees on Aviation and Space; Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet; Science, Oceans, Fisheries and Weather; Transportation and Safety
• Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (Chair)
• Joint Economic Committee

Caucuses:
• Congressional Motorcycle Caucus
• Rare Disease Caucus
• Senate Taiwan Caucus

Political positions

In the Bipartisan Index created by The Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy, Peters was ranked 17th out of all U.S. senators (and 4th among Democrats) for bipartisan work during the 115th U.S. Congress (2017–2019). The nonpartisan Center for Effective Lawmaking ranked Peters as the most effective senator in the 116th Congress (2019–2021), even though he was part of the minority party. In 2023, The Lugar Center ranked Peters second among senators for bipartisan efforts.

Peters supported the Paycheck Fairness Act. In 2015, he voted for the International Violence Against Women Act. He supports abortion rights. In the late 1980s, his first wife had a wanted pregnancy that ended at four months. Her miscarriage did not happen naturally, leading to a health emergency. Their hospital did not offer abortions, but Peters’s wife received an emergency abortion at another hospital because she and Peters were friends with the administrator there.

In 2017, Peters cosponsored a bill to help the federal government stop foreign companies from buying U.S. firms. The bill would expand the role of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to review smaller investments and consider factors like whether American information might be shared in a transaction or if a deal could help fraud.

In 2017, Peters also cosponsored the Israel Anti-Boycott Act, which would make it illegal for government contractors to support or take part in boycotts against Israel or Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories if the boycott was against the Israeli government.

Peters supported Israel during its invasion of the Gaza Strip. In 2024, he sponsored a bill to provide $30 million for Israeli efforts to stop tunneling and share the technology with the U.S. for use at its borders. He also voted to stop U.S. financial support for UNRWA through 2025 after an Israeli campaign to discredit the agency, which was then the main group helping with humanitarian aid in Gaza.

In 2025, Peters was among a minority of Senate Democrats who voted not to block the sale of arms to Israel, despite rising deaths in Gaza and restrictions on humanitarian aid causing widespread hunger.

Peters is a gun owner. After the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting, he supported the Chris Murphy gun control filibuster. In 2019, he was one of 40 senators who introduced the Background Check Expansion Act, which would require background checks for all firearm sales or transfers. Exceptions included transfers between law enforcement, temporary use for hunting or sports, gifts to family, inheritances, or temporary use for self-defense.

Peters voted for the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) in 2009. He has opposed attempts to repeal the law and supported a Medicare public option to expand health care access.

Peters voted against providing financial support to undocumented immigrants during the 2021 pandemic.

In 2025, Peters was one of 12 Senate Democrats who joined all Republicans to vote for the Laken Riley Act.

On March 5, 2025, Peters introduced S. 874, the Expanding Whistleblower Protections for Contractors Act of 2025, which aims to protect federal contractors who report waste, fraud, or abuse by ensuring they are not punished by government officials.

Personal life

Peters is married to Colleen Ochoa, who was born in Waterford Township, Michigan. Together, they have three children and currently live in Bloomfield Township, Michigan.

He is a member of the Episcopal Church and has stated that his faith is important to him. He believes it provides him with comfort during difficult times.

Peters enjoys riding motorcycles and has a tradition of taking annual motorcycle trips around Michigan. He is also a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. His ancestor, William Garrett, served in the Virginia Militia during the Revolutionary War. He fought alongside George Washington at Valley Forge during the winter of 1777 to 1778.

At the end of 2014, Peters had a net worth between $1.7 million and $6.3 million. This placed him in the 37th position among U.S. senators in terms of wealth.