Actor Hill Harper enters Michigan’s 2024 Senate race
Actor Hill Harper announced his first-ever run for office Monday, joining a field of Democrats for Michigan’s 2024 Senate race.
Harper, known for his role in “The Good Doctor,” joins a field of Democrats vying to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who is not seeking a fifth term. Harper is running to the left of Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a moderate, three-term Democratic House member from a swing district who launched her Senate bid in February.
Harper, who finalized plans to launch his Senate campaign last week, told The Detroit News that he’s running for Senate because “we deserve a better brand of politics than politics as usual.”
"There's a high degree of frustration by a lot of Democrats ― not just African-American Democrats in Michigan ― that for the first time in 57 years Michigan does not have a Black Democratic representative in Congress. And that is going backwards," Harper, who is African American, told The Detroit News. "I think that that folks want to see real people-powered representation over big-donor, establishment representation."
As of now, only three Black men currently serve in the U.S. Senate: Sens. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.).
In an announcement video released Monday, Harper addresses his son Pierce Hill Harper, telling him that he's growing up in an increasingly divisive and dangerous world.
"At the core of so much of this are too many politicians in office that don't really care about people," Harper said. "I believe our government should work for the people, be a force for good and protect our freedoms. And that won't happen if we keep electing the same type of people to office."
The Iowa native owns a house in Detroit and bought a coffee shop, Roasting Plant Coffee, in the city in 2017, according to The Associated Press.
Harper will also have to face several other Democrats who have jumped into the Senate race, including Michigan State Board of Education President Pamela Pugh, former state Rep. Leslie Love, businessperson Nasser Beydoun and attorney Zack Burns.