Actor Hill Harper is finalizing plans in the coming weeks to launch his Senate campaign in Michigan to battle Rep. Elissa Slotkin in the Democratic primary, Politico reported on Tuesday.
Sources told the news organization that he has ordered campaign T-shirts and shot his announcement video, which was produced by The Win Company, the Democratic firm that made ads last year for now-Sen. John Fetterman.
Harper, an African American actor on “The Good Doctor,” has never made a bid for public office before and is expected to campaign to the left of Slotkin, a moderate, three-term Democratic congresswoman who represents a swing district.
His supporters are confident that he can build a coalition that includes progressive and Black voters.
“I think Hill getting in the race would be a really good thing for Michigan Democrats,” Washtenaw County Sheriff Jerry Clayton told Politico. “In my experience, coronations tend to hurt the party, while robust and competitive primaries with a healthy and respectful debate over the real issues tends to help.”
Some Democrats said that Harper’s bid is not for sure until his official announcement, as his original plan was for a campaign launch in April.
Slotkin announced in February that she would be seeking the seat being vacated by Democrat Debbie Stabenow, who decided not to run for a fifth term.
Slotkin is a formidable opponent who had $2.3 million on hand at the end of March, according to campaign finance reports, and is expected to win the backing of much of the Democratic Party statewide and nationally, according to Politico.
Several other Democrats have also already entered the Senate primary race — including Michigan State Board of Education President Pamela Pugh, former state Rep. Leslie Love, businessperson Nasser Beydoun and attorney Zack Burns.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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