Dearborn businessman joins U.S. Senate race in Michigan
The Detroit News
Dearborn businessman and Democrat Nasser Beydoun is running for the U.S. Senate in Michigan, filing paperwork late last week declaring his candidacy for the seat being vacated by retiring U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow.
Beydoun, a 58-year-old restaurant owner, is the former chairman and executive director of the American Arab Chamber of Commerce. He plans a campaign kickoff event for 11 a.m. Wednesday in Detroit, he said.
Beydoun launched an exploratory committee in December prior to Stabenow's retirement announcement and told The Detroit News earlier this month that he had decided to run and so far raised $100,000 toward his campaign.
"These career politicians, they just continue the status quo, and if you're going to change, you got to get people in elected office who represent change, who have real life experiences, who really don't want to be career politicians, but want to be citizen leaders ― whose leadership is temporary, but your citizenship lasts forever," Beydoun said.
"I’m a moderate. A civil rights advocate, a human rights advocate," he added. "But when it comes to small business and personal freedoms, I’ll run in the middle."
Beydoun emphasized his ties to labor unions, noting his father was a cobbler who emigrated from Lebanon and worked for Ford Motor Co. for 30 years as a member of the United Auto Workers union.
"I'm an entrepreneur and small business owner. That's my experience. I know how difficult the decisions that politicians make affect us. And between good-paying union jobs and small business, that is the core of the middle class and it seems nobody's representing them these days," Beydoun said.
"Everybody's representing either the corporations or the lobbyists, and nobody's really focused on small business, which is the main catalyst of our economy."
Beydoun is the third Democrat to formally file for the race following three-term U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Lansing, who raised $3 million in the first month of her campaign, and attorney Zack Burns of Ann Arbor, who held a launch event in Flint on Saturday.
Other Democrats are expected to soon announce, including the actor Hill Harper and Michigan State Board of Education President Pamela Pugh of Saginaw, who said Sunday that she'll run.
ossible Republican contenders include former Detroit police chief and gubernatorial candidate James Craig of Detroit, who told The Detroit News that he's considering a Senate bid.
Republican Nikki Snyder, 38, of Dexter, a member of State Board of Education, previously announced a campaign and reported raising $59,435 in the first quarter. First-time candidate Michael Hoover of Laingsburg, formerly of Dow Chemical Co., reported raising $30,329.
State Sen. Ruth Johnson, R-Holly; U.S. Reps. Lisa McClain, R-Bruce Township; Bill Huizenga, R-Holland; and former U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Grand Rapids Township, also are weighing bids.
The contest for Stabenow's seat could be key in deciding which party controls the chamber in 2025. Democrats hold a 51-49 edge now.
mburke@detroitnews.com