In 2026, voters in Michigan will cast ballots for races involving the office of Governor, Attorney General, and Secretary of State. Gary Peters (D-MI) is opting to retire, so there’s an open U.S. Senate seat.
Democrats have three strong candidates: Mallory McMorrow, Haley Stevens, and Abdul El-Sayed. All three have raised millions of dollars for their campaigns ahead of the August primary.
Throughout the primary, Detroit Public Radio will be checking in with the candidates so our listeners can make an informed decision. The focus of this first round of interviews is to set a baseline for the candidates views on policy and what separates them from their competitors.
Having talked with Dr. Abdul El-Sayed and Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow, this first round of conversations concludes with Congresswoman Haley Stevens.
She talked with All Things Considered Detroit Host Russ McNamara on Feb. 18, 2026.
ICE overhaul
Russ McNamara: This week, you went to the largest detention center for migrants in the Midwest- the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin. You’ve called for the impeachment of homeland security secretary Kristi Noem. Should Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) exist as an agency?
U.S. Representative Haley Stevens: Well, ICE needs to be overhauled. I will tell you that we need to start seeing accountability, and we need a complete overhaul of ICE. There has been mismanagement from the very top, and that’s Kristi Noem. That’s why I’m signed on to the articles of impeachment.
It’s also why I have signed on to legislation to redirect the $75 billion plus up that came from the Big Beautiful Bill championed by Donald Trump that went to ICE. That $75 billion needs to go to local law enforcement and for training and for safety and protocol measures that are really going to keep our neighborhoods safe.
What ICE is doing right now is so out of control, it is so damaging, and it’s chaotic. Michiganders are seeing what unfolded in Minneapolis, and they are worried about that coming here.
RM: In Baldwin, you told reporters, “There is female leadership here, and there are women who walked with us today…and explained how important it is to treat people with humanity.” I’m kind of curious about this quote, because taken as it is, it almost seems like you’re saying what’s happening there is okay as long as women have a seat at the table.
HS: Well, what’s happening with ICE is not okay at all. And what was very astonishing, and the reason I made that point, is because these are supposed to be the most “dangerous criminals” that ICE is taking into these detention facilities, and yet there are guards and people in that facility who don’t carry any weapons.
There’s no weapons, there’s no tasers, and yet we are supposedly dealing with the most dangerous criminals. So what ICE is doing is certainly not okay, and that’s why I’m pushing very hard for these reforms and accountability. I mean, we need to see accountability, particularly for crimes that have been committed, and we need to see prosecutions out of what happened in Minneapolis.
Affordable health care
RM: What is your plan to fix health care? Your opponents have endorsed a public option or Medicare for All. Where do you stand in all that?
HS: I’m writing legislation and fighting for Michigan’s affordable health care each and every single day, and I have throughout my time in Congress. I deeply believe that we need to expand the Affordable Care Act. We need to protect that and we we also need to make the tax subsidies permanent. We’ve seen before our very eyes time and time again how Republicans do not believe in the promise of affordable, quality, accessible health care.
I worked in the Obama administration. I want to protect Obamacare. I also want to address the cuts to Medicaid that have come down. We need to keep expanding Medicaid.
And then lastly, we need to tackle the cost of prescription drugs. We’ve made some headway on that in previous times. Right now, it feels as though our prescription drug efforts are falling on deaf ears. I believe in benchmarking prescription drug costs to the cost of Medicare.
Abortion rights and government reform
RM: Being in the U.S. House, you know better than anyone that Congress has largely been in gridlock these past few years. If elected to the Senate, do you support the elimination of the filibuster?
HS: I’ll tell you that I do for a variety of matters, particularly women’s health protection. That’s legislation that I have championed in the house, that I’ve seen pass the House and then fall flat in the Senate. Republicans like Mike Rogers (U.S. Senate candidate) are going to vote for a national abortion ban, and they are going to stand in the way of codifying abortion rights in this country. We have those rights here in Michigan, we had a tremendous victory at the ballot box a handful of years ago, and yet those rights are still vulnerable. There are lawmakers on the other side of the aisle who are not going to stand up for people’s health, not going to stand up for women’s abortions rights, and addressing the filibuster will get us out of that mess.
RM: Do you support reforms to the U.S. Supreme Court—packing, term limits or otherwise?
HS: Look, all three branches of government have some real need for reforms and some ethics. I deeply support ethics reform. For the Supreme Court, what seems to look like pay-to-play, the fact that they have a different set of ethics rules, I think it would be more than appropriate, given that the Supreme Court doesn’t have elections, and it’s a lifetime appointment to look at the term limits and age limits and the like.
Focus on Michigan
RM: Approval ratings for Democratic leadership right now are around 25%. Do you think Congress needs a fresh look or move on from the current leadership of Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries?
HS: Well, I’ll tell you what, Congress and this open U.S. Senate seat that we have here in Michigan needs its best champion in the United States Senate, and that’s me. Someone with a track record of results for our state when we’re in moments of uncertainty, I put up my hand to run at it. I did that as chief of staff in the administration of Barack Obama on the U.S. auto rescue, when General Motors and Chrysler were steering bankruptcy off the cliff and 200,000 Michigan jobs were on the line; I have stood up for our state economy and our workforce when supply chain disruptions were coming down, and helped to pass the CHIPS and Science Act. That’s a track record of delivery and speaking directly to what drives our economy, which keeps people employed, and also a plan to lower costs. And so I’m ready to hit the ground running in the United States Senate. And I believe my run for United States Senate is about the future of Michigan.
RM: But that wasn’t the question. I was asking you if there should be a change in Democratic leadership.
HS: You’re asking me about the future of the Democratic Party. And there are some people who are running who assume that’s what this race is all about, and I don’t think that’s fair to the people of Michigan. I believe that this race is about the future of Michigan and our workforce, and who’s going to get points on the scoreboard for organized labor.
I’m sitting before you here today as the only candidate in this race who’s been endorsed by organized labor, and in terms of, you know, the inside baseball conversations, because I understand what you were specifically asking me. Of course, we can make those decisions. You know, Elissa Slotkin and I will absolutely hone in on what’s best for Michigan and what’s best for the Senate operations. That’s what’s got to happen. You know, in terms of some of those inside baseball, who’s in leadership and whatnot? What Michigan needs, and what I am focused on, is Michigan leadership.
AI data centers
RM: Michiganders seem to hate data centers. The growing A.I. boom, if it comes to fruition, will eat up a lot of resources. How do you weigh the need to address climate change with the constant need for business growth and more jobs in Michigan?
HS: Well, look at what we accomplished with the Inflation Reduction Act—something that I was proud to champion in the House of Representatives alongside leaders from our environmental movement, like the League of Conservation Voters. And that was the first time in history where the industry leaders, automotive companies in particular, also endorsed that legislation. And when we look at the large challenges that we are facing in terms of climate change, it is an all hands on deck approach.
We have got to take climate changes and energy needs very seriously, and this is something that I have fought for in the United States House of Representatives on the science committee, right? I held the first hearing on recycling technology in a decade when I got to Congress.
And so in some respects, you know, the table setting and the way in which we can look at creating jobs, winning the future and ensuring that we are not polluting, that we’ve shown that that can be done, you know, in terms of data centers and winning innovation races, I have been rigorous in conversations around the environmental protections and the consumer protections and the cost needs.
Wealth gap
RM: Money in this country seems to be going upwards. We’re creating lots of new billionaires. How do you address the growing wealth gap?
HS: We need someone who’s gonna fight for our organized labor and our middle class, and get the protecting the right to organize legislation done, as well as ensuring that the National Labor Relations Board actually has people with a labor background on the board. This administration has gone after people’s rights to organize, they have been trying to squash the voice of organized labor, and that is one of the best keys to addressing the wealth gap: the negotiating power of the workforce. I’m not running for Senate to do billionaire bidding.
I believe that this race is about the future of Michigan and our workforce, and who’s going to get points on the scoreboard for organized labor.
You know, I didn’t vote for the Big, Beautiful Bill because for a variety of reasons, and one, very starkly, was that that bill was a billionaire giveaway. We we have to have a fair marginal tax rate. Billionaires have got to pay their fair share. And lastly, we need a plan to lower costs for hard working Michiganders and retirees. I’ve got legislation to do that, tackling the cost of food and tackling the prices of everyday goods.
RM: When people in this country are going hungry, ethically, should billionaires exist?
HS: Well, we’re not going to be seeing someone like myself do billionaire bidding in the United States Senate, I’ll tell you that much. Tackling where and how billionaires are not paying their fair share needs to get done. We need a fair marginal tax rate. That is something that I feel very strongly about, and I feel so frustrated because we have seen this administration trample over our middle class put into place reckless tariffs that have created job insecurity and job loss.
Parts of Michigan have some of the fastest growing unemployment in the country right now because of these tariffs and the cuts to clean energy investments going into our manufacturing sector, and now we have a president who doesn’t want to open the Gordie Howe bridge—another slap in the face to our workers. We can’t be in the business of these billionaire giveaways, and we also can’t be in the business of not adjusting our tax code and fighting for labor rights.
PAC funding
RM: You say you’re not doing billionaire bidding, but you are taking corporate PAC money. That separates you from your competitors in the primary. Why?
HS: I’m deeply proud to have a campaign that has got 95% of donations that are $200 or less and those are coming from nurses and factory workers and grocery workers. I’m deeply proud to have the endorsements of the Michigan Democratic Party Black Caucus, former Speaker Joe Tate, the mayors of Livonia and Lansing and Grand Rapids in my campaign. And it’s it’s a grassroots endeavor. And look, you’ve got someone like Mike Rogers, who is going to continue to rubber stamp Donald Trump and stand in the way of comprehensive campaign finance reform. I have an “A” grading from the leading anti-corruption campaign finance reform organization because of my record.
RM: AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, has raised millions on your behalf for this Senate run, and in past campaigns. Since the October 7 Hamas terror attacks, Israel has been accused of war crimes and genocide against the Palestinian people. How do you reconcile voting for military support for Israel when you know exactly how the Israeli military has been using it?
HS: Well, I’d say this, that the goal has always been long term peace. We have needed to see the hostages come home, which they did, and that was an incredible day. We are in the second phase of a ceasefire, and the goal is a lasting ceasefire that will mean that Hamas has to put down its weapons, and also the calls that I have made for Israel and the United States to work together on rebuilding efforts and on humanitarian aid. We need people in Gaza, Palestinian people, to have dignity and peace, just as we need people in Israel to do so.
RM: So there’s been no hesitation in taking money from AIPAC?
HS: I’m running my campaign in a grassroots way, with individual donors who participate in the democratic process in the way that our country allows. I’m proud of my record of standing up alongside democracy and freedom and humanitarian needs. You know, here in the United States and and certainly abroad.
Note: A planned question about the rights of trans people in the U.S. was withheld because Congresswoman Stevens needed to leave for another appointment.
Login
