Gary Peters

Gary Charles Peters Sr. (born December 1, 1958) is an American lawyer, politician, and former military officer serving as the junior United States senator from Michigan since 2015.

Gary Charles Peters was born December 1, 1958, in Pontiac, Michigan, where he grew up.

He is the son of Madeleine A. (née Vignier) and Herbert Garrett Peters, a historian and statistician.

His mother was a French war bride and his father was American.

Peters graduated from Rochester High School in 1976 and chose to attend Alma College, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and was inducted into Omicron Delta Kappa and Phi Beta Kappa.

Peters worked for 22 years as a financial advisor, serving as an assistant vice president at Merrill Lynch from 1980 until 1989, when he joined Paine Webber as a vice president.

He earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Detroit in 1984.

Peters also holds a Juris Doctor and a Master of Arts in political science from Wayne State University and a Master of Arts in philosophy from Michigan State University.

He also earned a diploma from the College of Naval Command and Staff, U.S. Naval War College.

After a failed attempt in 1990, Peters was elected to the Michigan Senate to represent the Oakland County-based 14th district in November 1994.

He was elected to the Rochester Hills City Council in 1991 and represented the 14th district in the Michigan Senate from 1995 to 2002.

Peters served on the Rochester Hills City Council from 1991 to 1993.

Peters joined the United States Navy Reserve in 1993 at age 34.

He served more than ten years in units at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, including Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 26.

During his Navy service, Peters earned the Seabee Combat Warfare Specialist designation and carried out assignments as an assistant supply officer.

Peters's reserve duty included time in the Persian Gulf supporting Operation Southern Watch; he served overseas again during increased military activity following the September 11 attacks.

He was reelected in 1998 and served until 2002, stepping down then due to the state's term limits.

He was the Democratic nominee for Michigan Attorney General in 2002, narrowly losing to Republican Mike Cox.

He was then appointed commissioner of the Michigan Lottery by Governor Jennifer Granholm, serving from 2003 to 2008, when he resigned to successfully run for Congress.

From 2007 to 2008, Peters served as the third Griffin Endowed Chair in American Government at Central Michigan University.

In that part-time position, he taught one class a semester, plus preparing additional student activities including two policy forums, and developing a journal of Michigan politics and policy, for $65,000 a year.

Peters announced his candidacy to run for Congress two months after being hired.

Some student and faculty members protested Peters's hiring, saying he could not be objective in the classroom while running for office and that the university job was subsidizing his campaign.

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

Peters was a senior policy and financial analyst for the Michigan Department of Treasury and served on arbitration panels for the New York Stock Exchange and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

Peters attained 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.

A member of the Democratic Party, he was the U.S. representative for MI's 14th congressional district, which included the eastern half of Detroit, the Grosse Pointes, Hamtramck, Southfield, and Pontiac, from 2009 to 2015 (the district was MI's 9th congressional district until 2013).

Before his election to Congress, Peters served in the United States Navy Reserve, spent 22 years as an investment advisor, and worked briefly in academia.

In 2014, Peters was elected to the United States Senate seat being vacated by retiring Democratic incumbent Carl Levin.

He was unopposed in the Democratic primary and defeated Republican Terri Lynn Land in the general election.

He was the only non-incumbent Democrat to win a Senate election in 2014.

Peters was succeeded in the 14th district by Gilda Jacobs.

The 14th district is one of the most diverse state Senate districts – containing nearly every racial, ethnic, and religious group in Michigan.

Located in southeastern Oakland County, it includes the cities of Pontiac, Bloomfield Hills, Southfield, and Oak Park.

Peters was chosen by his Democratic colleagues to chair his party's caucus.

In 2018, he received a diploma from the College of Naval Command and Staff.

Peters was reelected in 2020, defeating Republican challenger John E. James in a close race.

On January 28, 2021, Peters was selected as chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for the 2022 election cycle.

He was later selected again for the 2024 cycle.

Peters will become Michigan's senior senator when Debbie Stabenow retires in January 2025.