Justin Amash Won't Seek Michigan Senate Seat

Reason

Unnamed sources close to Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) have said that the libertarian congressman will not be seeking to replace Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) next year.

From the Detroit Free Press.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, a firebrand libertarian who was looking at entering the Republican field to replace Democratic U.S. Sen. Carl Levin next year, won't be running, apparently.

Last night, after the National Journal cited unnamed sources close to Amash as saying he would not enter the race, Cascade Township Republican tweeted a link to the story and said he loves his district and was excited about the work he is doing in the U.S.House.

In July, the House narrowly failed to pass an amendment Amash introduced to the latest Department of Defense appropriations bill that would have limited the NSA's data collection. More recently, Amash has been an outspoken opponent of U.S. intervention in Syria.

Read more from Reason.com on Amash here.

Comments

[Clich? Bandit]

Some are legislators, some are executive, and some are adjudicators...Senators are none of the above, they are the lowest form of life on earth. SLD on Dr. Paul

[Emmerson Biggins]

I think we should start calling him "RP2".

[Guillotined]

Oh well, anyone who is not named Carl Levin will be a vast improvement for that seat.

[Neoliberal Kochtopus]

I would like to hear a no-BS explanation as to why Amash isn't running. Does he think this sort of thing happens over night?

[kinnath]

I would guess that he is in a friendly district ensuring reelection as a representative, but that he thinks winning a statewide election is far less certain.

[Brandon]

It is Michigan.

[[e-mail]]

He knows the math- he's simply unlikely to win. Michigan as a whole is very different than his Grand Rapids district. More importantly, at his age there's no reason to think he won't have other opportunities, and he's doing very well in the House.

Ron Paul made this mistake. That's why he lost his House seat in the '80s- he ran for a Senate seat and lost the primary.

[prolefeed]

He lives in Michigan -- you know, the state with Detroit in it. The state that has voted for Democrats in statewide races with a lot of consistency. Both U.S. Senators are Democrats, and the presidential races for quite a while have gone narrowly D, too. (Yeah, the governor is an R.)

So a libertarian trying to win statewide has got to be a daunting task. Better he stays in the House for now.

[[e-mail]]

It 's also probably relevant that Michigan's GOP Gov., Rick Snyder, is up for re-election at the same time in 2014. He's probably going to lose, so Amash doesn't want to run on the same ticket as him.

[kinnath]

Amash would have far greater impact as a senator (ala Rand Paul) than as a representative. It is disappointing to see him pass on this opportunity.

[Raven Nation]

Although, if they can pick up a few more liberty minded people to go with him, Massie, & a couple of others, the House has more impact on spending bills.

[prolefeed]

Amash would have far greater impact as a senator (ala Rand Paul) than as a representative.

Amash would have a far lesser impact as a private citizen who ran for Senate and lost than to continue as a member of the House.

[kinnath]

Risk versus Reward

He chose not to roll the dice this time out.

[kinnath]

If the democratic party crashed and burns next year because of Obamacare, then he is passing up an opportunity to overcome the structural problems of running as an R in Michigan.

[Hyperion]

^THIS^

When your numbers are around 3 or so, it's not a time to take any great risks.

[PapayaSF]

There's also timing. Amash is pretty new, and he might just want to wait until he's more established and well-known before he tries for the Senate.

[Hyperion]

Yes, but at the same time, we cannot risk losing him in congress. That is too great of a risk to take right now for libertarians. After all, we only have like 3 in congress now.

Better we focus efforts on trying to improve those numbers in 2014 and Amash stays right where he is for now.

[[e-mail]]

I was much more disappointed that Gary Johnson didn't run for Senator in NM, where he would have likely won. Though at the same time I do like having him and Judge Gray in the LP.

[Hyperion]

Well, the American public is not exactly to the point yet that a Libertarian candidate for POTUS has any chance in hell of winning.

So why don't those 2 run for congress in 14?

[[e-mail]]

Jim Gray has run for Congress before, but he lives in California, so he's more likely to be elected Vice-President than he is to unseat an incumbent member of the House. Johnson has said he's simply not interested in being a legislator, which I suppose is at least honest. Through Gary Johnson's org, Our America, they're pretty clearly trying to set up a better ground game for another LP run in 2016.

[CE]

Are you sure? Hillary vs. Santorum would drive a lot of people to vote for a reasonable LP candidate.

[Huh?]

I was born, raised and live in Michigan. I have an "Amash for Senate" bumper sticker I display around Michigan State University (I try to give the campus more balance)...and all for nothing! What a bummer.